Shadow Rider
by CharmedPluto
Summary: "I'm sorry, but I hereby strip you of your rank and discharge you from duty," were the words that rang through my ears as I rode. To get my life back I was ready to go straight to hell and back, if you wished to help go ahead.
1. Prolouge

Shadow Rider Prolouge

I stopped my bike outside of the dull building that used to be so lively until it closed down. The paint was chipping off of the sides of the outer wall as if someone had ran a shovel's head against those reds and blacks. The lock on the door just had to be stronger than my Colt Double-Eagle forty-five. My one chance to get back the place I lived in for about three months was gone now. The front window was black as the night, soaked in raindrops only lighting up when a bolt of lightning split the sky. In it was a sign that read 'For sale or lease' then some one-eight hundred number and the price. I looked up at the sign with still stood along the corner of the lot. It read in red and black letters 'Black Arms Antique and Pawn'.

I sighed looking up as red and blue lights painted across the formerly dark window, for nearly a year, they'd been after me. The IRS was looking to put me behind bars all because I couldn't pay for my shop. They only had one thing left to take; my bike.

I revved the bike's engine turning on the lights and sped off down the highway with at least ten police cruisers after me. I swerved around a corner and into an alley heading straight to a dead end, I lifted my hand, and after flipping off the cars behind me muttered two words. In an instant I was back on the Interstate.

"Chaos Control," were those two words, and it was what made me a force to be reckoned with. I rode on until I had to absolutely had to stop. I had no communications to speak of, no cell phone, no Facebook, not even an email account. My communications were through chains of people I'd met all around the country. In just about every state I had at least five people that knew me, and as a result, knew each other. It was primitive but hell…it worked. I pulled off the nearest gas station, I had a friend who had everyone he worked with in one me. As I pulled in I parked and started pumping gas into the tank. Once I was done I headed into the store to left the manager know it was only me.

I would never do this in broad daylight but today was an exception I guess. My friend Jason ran this specific station, an alternative to having to serve like I did for ten years. I only served half of my required time because of the incident, and was dishonorable discharged, so no retirement and then a few boneheaded decisions cost me my shop and shortly after the incident that discharged me cost me her…as a result I've been riding nonstop trying to pull myself together. The others involved tried their best to help while being discreet about everything, and by Chaos they were good at it. This is what happened as I went through the GUN Intel Insurrection, my life as the famed Shadow Rider.


	2. Chapter 1

The Shadow Rider Ch: 1

So…I kept riding until the rain cleared revealing a new day. I'd done this plenty of times, so I had energy to spare. While I rode on I still thought back to last years ago; when I was discharged. The grounds were somewhat shaky, it was suspected I had an affair with the General's wife, which I will safely say right now it was her fault, she tried seducing me and I repeatedly turned her down, then she jumped up and kissed me, which is right when the General walked in. Now if you were in his shoes and your most effective soldier was lips to lips with your spouse, what would you do? Yeah…I don't care what you would do; it wouldn't matter, since he had me discharged on the grounds of insubordination. Well that little incident is when my life went from good to down right messed up. My girlfriend dumped me because that tramp got to her before I did. So there goes my girl of a year and a half; not ten days later I was evicted from my house and then the IRS repossessed my shop since I couldn't pay the bills. Now the world still isn't done seemingly raping my life, now they want my last possession and my butt in a ten by nine by ten-prison cell with some murderer or thief. Why? Because I can't make ends meet, all because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Out of nowhere I heard the sound of sirens. I pulled out of sight, in an ally way somewhere in Lionsville; I'd been here a few times, so I was fairly well known; as a matter of fact, I had gotten my other nickname here, which was 'The Dark One'. Most of the tourists this place got during the summer thought I was some kind of monster or a really bad guy that no one messed with. It was true, if you messed with me in the wrong way, I'd either get you into some deep trouble or mess you up terribly.

I decided that I should stop for a while. I know that rest wasn't exactly vital right now but I had to get some of it. I walked to the park that was by the lake. When I got there I sat on the bench, watching the waves of the lake roll up on the shore only to be sucked right back into the turmoil of the lake. I had on the sunglasses that my buddy Jet gave me; he used to use them when he raced hover boards, they were fully polarized and non-reflective on the outside. They couldn't be reflective because you may refract the sunlight and blind another rider, and trust a guy whose been there done that and bought the T-shirt, wiping out at three hundred miles per hour at two hundred feet up isn't something you want to do. Those kept the sun off of my eyes, which were an unnatural shade of maroon. Before you go on and say that you're a genetics expert let me say I am completely serious, my irises, as my ex says were bloody red and belonged on a demons face. What she said about them was a sort of joke, but now that we weren't dating anymore thinking that thought hurt me. I usually, after that, thought of something else. I mean I can't help that I have a really rare phenotype; that's just something that made me unique. Even the military tried to get me to take out my nonexistent colored contact lenses and get clear ones; that doesn't work when you have red irises and they don't know that. I then crossed my arms, which allowed me to look at the tattoos that ran along my forearms and stopped at my wrists, they were of two blood red Imoogi, which were Korean dragons before they are actually dragons, so they take the form of cobras. As I watched the waves rolling gently I still couldn't get my mind off of the reason why I was here. No not the reason I came to this lake, I was referring to the reason I wasn't at home with a wife, or at my shop telling someone how much his or her stuff is worth.

"Grand," I muttered, recalling the General's reaction.

"It's not so grand is it Rider?" said a voice

I turned to look over my shoulder, which tossed my quills slightly. I looked upon Sonic, who was a friend of mine here and a rival of sorts.

"You've got that right, what's up?" I said

"Not much, it's been somewhat quiet since you drove out that guy who thought this was his town," he relied

"I told you, he was asking for a fight and he picked the wrong guy to mess with,"

"So what have you been doing?"

"The usual, I'm still on the run, and they still haven't caught me,"

"That's not surprising those idiots couldn't find a shotgun in a pistol shop,"

I laughed; I hardly ever pointed the finger at the government, since being in the military cost you your right to talk freely about politics. I knew that the IRS was just a way to ensure people pay their dues.

"Hey, listen you know that since you saved my wife from Greg and his gang, you're always welcome to stay with us while you're in town," Sonic told me

"What can I say, I hate people that think it's okay to steal from anyone; the fact that I saved your wife was pure coincidence," I said back

"Even so, you're still welcome in my house anytime,"

I thought about it for a few silent minutes then said, "Are you serious?"

"Of course; hell you saved this town from more abuse from that guy and his gang,"

"And what if he returns while I'm gone?"

Sonic sighed, his hand running through his quills which for whatever reason he'd dyed a navy blue, it was about a long as mine was, "I think about that every day of my life, then I recall what you taught all of us, how when you show no fear and come together you're unbeatable,"

Unbeatable may be a bit exaggerated, but it inspired them to help me run those thugs out of town, still I wasn't sure if they'd be back.

"Sonic, are you sure you wouldn't mind if I stayed with you and Sally?" I asked

"Of course I wouldn't mind,"

I smiled ever so slightly, it was the first time I'd smiled in a long time, since most of the time I wasn't happy about anything. This little bit was a huge moral boost for me.

"If you don't mind I need to use you're phone to make a few calls, since my cell plan was deactivated," I said

"Nah, come with me,"

"I'll follow on the bike,"

Sonic nodded getting into his Dodge Challenger SRT. I went into the ally and revved my Harley's engine before pulling onto the road and following him to his house, which was about three miles north of the park. I pulled my bike into the garage when we showed up, which was right next to his Challenger, when I removed my helmet I looked back seeing the biggest of the Challengers with the most expensive project I'd undergone since I built my dream house, which the IRS repossessed, my military grade customized Harley-Davidson. I set the helmet on the left handle bar and walked inside, almost as if I was home for the first time in a long time.

"Sally I'm back," Sonic shouted, "I found Shadow at the park,"

"Is he staying?" Sally said coming into the foyer to greet us. She was pretty, her hair was a chocolate brown and long too, her eyes an ocean blue, which complement her olive skin. I smirked when she hugged me at least that was one girl who was happy to see me.

"I'll stay for a little while, but just until I can get back out and ride without being tailed every two miles," I told her breaking her hug.

"Well when you do leave you be careful,"

"I always am,"

She smiled.

Looking around I noticed that their place hadn't changed since the last time I was here, the foyer still had that welcome home feeling that you got when you came in, the tile's were a kind of sandy color and the walls were painted a light yellow. I walked up the carpeted steps that led to the master bedroom and the guest room, which they had when Sam was growing up, I missed him; he was a good kid. Now he was with Jesus and his company. I sat there for the longest time just pondering what my next move should be. I recalled how good of a kid Sam was, he was the one of the greatest heroes in my book; a true American. I just couldn't believe he was gone; I also recalled Sonic and Sally's reaction when SECDEF called; they were absolutely devastated. I later found out from my replacement commandant told me he was inducted to the 'Ghost' unit; one of the Army's most effective Special Operations units. I was the former commander until I was discharged. I finally closed my eyes and took a well deserved nap


	3. Chapter 2

Shadow Rider Ch: 2

A few days ended up going by, and in that time I didn't do much. I'd work on my bike from time to time but mostly I was upstairs in Sam's room sleeping since I'd been riding for nearly forty-eight hours straight without stopping for anything but gas. This particular morning I was in the mood to go for a walk, so I went to the diner that was on the corner, about a five minute walk from the park; ironically when I first arrived here, when the winds of trouble blew me here; this was the first place I encountered Greg. I had made an order at this diner for a glass of water, but Greg saw it fit to deny me that. One thing eventually led to his entire gang of maybe ten guys against me and a few brave (or stupid) diners who'd had enough of him. Well we won that day and I was deemed the hero of the day. I walked in the diner and took a seat at the bar, which once again ironically was the same seat I'd sat in when I first came here. I move my sun glasses off of my eyes and laid my left arm across the granite bar, setting my head in my right arm, this time however I ordered a cup of coffee to-go, I wasn't really in the mood to stick around.

"You look beat; Rider," said Mary, she was the hostess.

I looked up slightly, "This wouldn't be the first time,"

"Are you sure all you want is a cup of coffee?"

I nodded, but my stomach begged to differ

Mary chuckled, "That's a sound I should only here when my diners come in, never when they leave,"

I just sighed, she always knew, somehow, whether it was the look in your eye or the fact that your stomach cannot stay quiet while your brain tries processing what has happened to you over the past year; she ALWAYS knew.

"C'mon you know you can't hide that you're hungry," she said with a smile

I chuckled slightly, "You always know,"

Well that little bit of conversation brought me to order a plate of waffles. Not ten seconds later though the door to the diner opened and three guys walked in, all of them dressed head to toe in the stereotypically biker gear; the black leather jacket, blue jeans, the whole nine yards.

"Well look at this; boys," I heard one say as Mary set my plate in front of me

"Yeah he looks familiar," said another

"Dude that's the guy we ran into back in Nevada," said the third

I ignored the fact that they still recognized me, it was their fault for starting all of the commotion back in Nevada anyway; just goes to show what happens when you anger a guy (like me) who has nothing to lose; or in my case really couldn't afford to lose anything, like the gas in my bike.

The incident goes like this, I was at a bar in the Nevada desert and I just paid for my drink when I'd walked outside to see these three who were now in the diner recalling when we first encountered each other. Those guys thought it would be cool to siphon gas from my tank; the resulting conflict ended with me nearly blowing one of them up with a Chaos Spear.

"So, you've been following us have you, Rider?" the taller one, whom everyone called Tex.

"No, I haven't, now would you and your goons kindly got get hit by a semi and leave me alone," I replied

Tex growled at me, "Are you trying to start something?"

"No, but it sounds like your itching for a fight,"

Tex grunted

"I'm really not in the mood for a fight; I just want to eat my breakfast and then be on my way,"

I heard the middle guy crack his knuckles; that was Enzeo; also they sometimes called him The Ninja; now the reason for that was beyond me. I didn't care though; I wasn't in the mood to get into trouble again; I was still suffering the consequences of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"If you want to start up a fight, Tex, do us a favor and take it outside," Mary said

"Shut it broad, you're lucky I don't burn this place down," Tex snapped

"So long as I'm here you won't touch my diner with your matches,"

"Oh and who's going to stop me?"

I'd had enough; Tex was already on my hit list, but that comment had just jumped him up to Priority two, Priority one was figure out how to get back at Kelly for getting me into this mess in the first place.

"I will," I said standing

"Oh…heh-hey, look Rider, I've already seen what you can do…but…"

"But what, Tex? Are you scared?"

That got to him, "I'm not scared,"

"Do I intimidate you?" I formed a Chaos Spear in my right hand.

Tex notable shook and then with a quick motion he and his associates left the diner without another word. I dropped the Chaos Spear, which disintegrated into nothing.

"Sorry about that, Rider," Mary said taking my empty plate back into the kitchen, "We see them now and then; they blew in from Nevada just last week."

"Loners are they?" I said contemplating what to do

"I guess you could say that, they remind this place too much of Greg and his gang,"

I hummed thinking of Greg's last words before he left, "This isn't over, you'll get caught eventually, we all do,"

Had these guys been sent by him to scope me out? I also wondered what he did when he wasn't riding, most people assumed I got my retirement salary and that's how I paid for everything. Not the case, I knew people all over the country that could cover me.

"So have you seen her lately; Shadow?" I heard from across the bar

I turned to see Silver having a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"I thought you were supposed to be at the gas station? You still work there don't you?"

Silver shook his head, "No, I quit so I could get out on the road with Blaze,"

"Really?"

"Yeah why?"

I walked towards him, "Is she with you?"

"No, she and I went our separate ways; I wanted to go west she wanted to go north, so we separated,"

"You broke up because of that?"

"NO! You may have a college education but aren't very smart,"

"Whew, I thought I was going to have to start calling you the White Rider or something,"

That's when I heard sirens, I saw police lights and I said my farewells and took off out of the diner, leaving my money for the meal on the counter. I ran back to Sonic's house grabbed my bike and took off. I wasn't going anywhere in particular I just had to get out of sight for a bit. I knew it; the Military could track my powers.

To clarify, yes I'm not your average person; I'm a Chaos possessor after I signed on I joined a special team. That's why I have these powers, which in my case was three things, my Chaos Spears, Chaos Control which allows me to teleport relatively short distances, and probably five different uses for my Chaos Blast, aside from just using it to blow shit up.

As I rounded the corner that headed towards the interstate I stopped. I didn't stop often, especially when I was being pursued, but something this time caused me to stop and look back.

"This can all be avoided, Rider," said a voice

I turned towards the tree line, which was just to the right of the ramp onto Interstate 75. I the shadow of the trees was a figure, its arms crossed.

"How could all of this be avoided? Do you know a way that would get the military and the IRS off of my back?" I asked

"Of course I do…I work for them after all,"

That's when the biggest problem I'd had since getting into this mess in the first place made itself known. He was in a kind of black suit, not the formal kind but not exactly the jumpsuit kind either. I noted the holster on his waist belt, which also had three frag grenades on it and about six extra magazines.

"Thanks but no thanks," I said, "I have no intention of surrendering to scum like you,"

"A pity, I'd imagine there's some reason you haven't turned yourself in,"

"That's none of your damn business!"

"Well…if you ever think of turning in, and can't find one of us,"

He then flicked his wrist and out of nowhere my shoulder burst into pain, I grunted.

"There's my card, I'll be in touch,"

In a flash of white the guy vanished.

I looked at my looked at the card and quickly ripped it free wondering how he did that. The card was a simple business card.

"Agent Andy Ross…" I muttered reading the name straight from the card.

I had a feeling, which at one point I wished didn't come true, and it was that this Agent Ross was about to play a huge role in this little adventure of mine. I revved my Harley's engine and headed back to Sonic's house, my shoulder still bleeding from the wound from that card.


	4. Chapter 3

Shadow Rider Ch 3

I was holding my shoulder as I entered Sonic's house. I wasn't hurt necessarily but I was confused as to what the hell this Andy character wanted, and where he learned to use Chaos Control. Sally saw me walking up the stairs and must've seen the blood stain on my jacket because she immediately asked if I was all right.

"I'm fine Sally, it's just a small cut," I told her

Somehow I think she knew I was lying, she must've seen the business card's corner, which was stained in my own blood.

"That doesn't look all right to me," She said heading back down to get the first aid kit.

I followed her; I supposed I didn't want it to get infected or something. That's about when the door opened and Sonic walked in, he looked like he'd just run a marathon in the desert, something told me that he'd done just that.

"What happened to you're shoulder Shads?" he asked

"Two things; one don't call me Shads; second, this happened to my shoulder,"

I flicked the card at him, but not with nearly enough force to break skin, he plucked it out of the air and took a look at it.

I shed my jacket and rolled up the under shirt's sleeve so Sally could start stitching me up. I winced when the needle pierced my skin, I could smell antiseptics, and they were fairly strong I might add.

"So who exactly is this Andy Ross guy?" he asked

"I have no idea, he might be GUN, IRS, or even a freelancer; in all honestly I haven't the slightest clue." I answered, wincing a few times as the thread pulled my skin tight to seal my wound.

"If he did that to you then he must be trouble,"

"An obvious conclusion,"

"The real question is what are you going to do about it?" Sally asked me

I shrugged ignoring the sting in my left shoulder where my stitches were. I stood after Sally put medical gauze around my shoulder and headed into the garage to start working on my bike.

It had been about an hour since I'd seen Andy. I had the engine of my bike out of the body and connected to my data pad as I worked. I'd just tightened one of the six cylinders and looked at the pad.

"Exploded view," I said via voice command

"Cylinder two's pressure is low, causing a reduction in fuel efficiency," said my AI

I moved my tools to there and tightened the screws when the garage door opened.

"You could knock once in a while," I said not looking up from my work.

"Well blame me for not knocking on my garage door,"

That was Sonic, I could tell just by the sound of the kid's voice. I set my tools down and looked at the data pad. The pressure was back to optimum level, I allowed myself a rare smirk and hefted the probably two hundred pound part with a bit of effort. I then set it back into place and tightened the grips that held it in place. I frowned, knowing this wasn't the original model, rather the Mark II. The Mark I was destroyed during the Black Arms Invasion when I crashed it into a Black Arms tank unit, which was more or less like the Hunters on Halo. The bike was only a prototype so I honestly didn't mind it, but only knowing this wasn't the original was a bit irritating.

I wiped my forehead, and revved the engine, it was purring like that time I heard Blaze laying against Silver in the movies but deeper, like Sonic's Challenger's engine.

"Perfect," I said cutting the engine and heading back inside.

I went upstairs and sat down on the bed again and drifted to sleep.

"AH!"

I shot out of bed and burst through the door hearing glass break.

"Sally?" Sonic said, he'd just come out of his room and was rubbing his eyes.

I leapt down to the bottom floor rolling to my feet. I saw two guys tying her up.

"HEY!" I shouted

They turned to me

I raised my hand and charged a Chaos Spear, "Step off,"

They ignored my; big mistake

I hurled the spear damn close to the first to let them know I wasn't kidding around.

One turned and shot something at me, a tazer. I felt every muscle in my body cramp up at once and fell to the floor.

"Take her to truck, that should bring him to us,"

Sonic was there a second later but found himself in the same situation I was in, as in tazed and on the floor.

They got away. I rose ripping the barbs out of my skin and heading to the garage. Sonic followed grabbing his keys along the way.

I revved my engine and sped out of the garage, seeing their truck heading down the street. Sonic pulled up next to me as we follow them. The passenger side window opened and a guy poked out with an AR14. Bullets filled the air. Sonic swerved and took rounds to his car broad side. I weaved in and out of traffic avoiding the rounds and speeding up. I drew my Colt and returned fire, hitting the guy square in between the eyes, he dropped his Assault rifle, which flipped end-over-end along the highway. I used Chaos Control to slow time down and as I passed it I grabbed it before snapping my finger, which reverted time to its normal flow.

I slung the rifle over my back and pushed the throttle to max. I then noted Sonic following me on foot.

"This is why I don't like driving," he said.

I drew my pistol and offered it to him.

"Did my message not get through to you? I wouldn't be caught dead with on of those things,"

"You want to stay alive?" I asked still following the truck.

"Why put trust in a weapon when I know my fists won't jam or run out of ammo?"

I half shut my eyes, "Just take the damn thing,"

"Fine, but I won't use it,"

"Fair enough,"

He pulled up along me and took it.

I then smirked under my helmet, "Hope you can keep up with me,"

"Back at you,"

I sensed a slight boost in Chaos energy, the reason Sonic is so fast was do to this. Chaos was the reason I was one of the most powerful people in existence. We followed the truck down the interstate that was headed towards the other side of town. The truck pulled around a turn and vanished.

"WHAT!" Sonic shouted, "They can use Chaos Control?"

We stopped at the end of the ally that they disappeared in.

"This is my fault…" I said aloud, though it wasn't really directed at anyone.

"No it isn't, they would've come one way or another,"

I heard a ringing noise; that was Sonic's phone. He answered it.

"Hello?"

Pause.

"Where is she?"

That time he sounded legitimately pissed off.

"Bring her back!"

Another pause.

"FUCK YOU! I'd never turn him over, he's my friend and I wouldn't betray him like that,"

Pause

"You lay one finger on her and I swear you wont see tomorrow!"

He growled but didn't speak.

"I understand; I'll bring him to you, but I can't guarantee he'll come quietly,"

He sighed a moment later and added, "Rodger that," before hanging up.

"Shadow,"

I grunted

I heard the regret in his voice, "I'm sorry,"

In a lightning fast motion he drew my Colt and fired.


	5. Chapter 4

Shadow rider Ch 4

I fell over, lucky for me Sonic moved too fast and fired too soon, which caused him to miss and clip the wall. I crouched and leveled my commandeered AR14.

"You've got to be kidding me! Sonic, have you lost your fucking mind!" I shouted

Every fiber of my being was screaming to return fire, but my heart held me back, I couldn't live with myself if his blood ever spilt on my hands.

Sonic was trembling and dropped the gun.

"What did they say?" I asked a second later lowering my rifle.

"They want me to bring you in," he simply replied

"What good would I be to them dead?"

"I was aiming to wound you, but I guess guns aren't my strong point."

"Strong point or not, you still could've killed me!"

He was quiet.

"They threatened Sally didn't they?"

He nodded.

I stamped my foot and swore.

"I guess this Andy guy isn't fooling around," Sonic said

I slung my AR14 and then picked my pistol up, flicked the safety on before handing to him.

"Next time you use this thing, I want it to save my ass got it?"

Sonic nodded

"Just remember ADS,"

"ADS?"

I half closed my eyes, Civilians, "Aim Down Sites,"

He looked down the gun and pointed it at the wall then smirked, "So that's why you hold it like this,"

I then rolled my eyes though the thought of nearly being shot by my own friend still lingered in the back of my mind.

"Why?" I asked

Sonic sighed, "You would do the same were you in my position,"

"Except you would be dead,"

I got back on my bike, "Where did they say to bring me?"

"Uptown Station in Fort Walton, the old warehouse where they held the Guitar Hero contest,"

I revved my engine, "Then that's where we go,"

"Fort Walton is at least, a three day trip from here,"

"Then Andy will just have to be patient,"

I heard Sonic's phone again, he answered it.

"Yes,"

Pause

"Don't worry, I'm…"

"Give me the phone," I more or less ordered.

He did so.

"Sonic, let's not forget about your wife now, you realize what we are capable of,"

"Yeah I don't care what you're capable of," I said, "Leave them out of this or you'll be sorry,"

"I guess this isn't Sonic is it?"

"Wow, you aren't as big of a dumbass as I thought,"

"So who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"The infamous Shadow Rider, or you know me as Former Captain Shadow Maverick GUN Army,"

"Ah…so I'm guessing our associate has done his job, he must've captured you fairly easily if you're talking to us on an open phone line,"

"Actually he hasn't captured me, and I've got news for you, you and whoever you involved in this little shit are all officially fucked,"

"And how do you know this?"

"Because you've just pissed of the Ultimate Life form, and you've also pissed off a guy with absolutely nothing left to lose. Try anything you want, ground troops, armor, air support, hell nukes if you want, but if there is one thing I know its this: you will never kill me, and so long as I breath, you will all die!"

"So confident are you?"

"I'm going to Uptown Station and I will personally rip your head from your shoulders, if anything, your life will end by my hands,"

I hung up and tossed the phone aside. Sonic picked it up but I slapped it to the ground, "They'll be all over here in a minute, satellite tracking is a complete bitch,"

"Why don't you want them tracking us?"

"Why the hell do you think?"

Sonic thought for a second then nodded.

I sped off down the road heading towards the Interstate. Sonic was on foot behind me.

I thought back to the ally on a few occasions while we were on the road, we covered about a third of the distance in about four hours, just the two of us and nothing but open road.

Sonic motioned me towards an exit near Austin, Texas. I pulled that way; it was near a gas station as well as near a Ramada Inn.

"Sonic," I said pulling into the gas station, "Go get us a room at that Ramada, I'll be by shortly,"

Sonic more or less limped there, I guess he was exhausted from his running earlier. I didn't blame him, but it was in a way his own fault, he did choose not to use a vehicle like I did. There was the reason I don't skate or teleport everywhere I needed to go; it was a lot of work and I didn't want to literally knock myself out. I filled up my tank to full this time and headed into the store to confirm my identity before heading over the inn.

In the lobby I saw Sonic waiting in a chair.

"What the…?" I whispered then approached, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you, what does it look like?"

"Nevermind, I'll get us a room. Chaos…you want something done right…" I started for the desk and added under my breath, "Don't trust the Faker to do it,"

A few minutes later I found myself speaking in code, and not much later I had two rooms. I gave one of the keys back, telling him I only needed one. I didn't want to draw attention to myself by suddenly having the keys to two of the rooms. I motioned Sonic to follow. We entered the room, it wasn't very big, I could see a night stand separating two beds, the bathroom was next to the door, just to the right, and next to it a closet. I set my helmet and my jacket on one of the two beds.

"Gods," Sonic said sitting on the other, I could just hear how demoralized he was, "In one day you can find yourself in hell and the ones you care about most in danger,"

"Now you see what it is to be a hero," I said sitting down on my bed, "At least being a famous one; the military masks you, no one really knows who you are, they just know that you will lay down your life for their freedom,"

"A kind of dark way to put it don't you think?"

I shrugged, "Sometimes that's just the truth,"

"Whatever…so aside from me and Andy, who else knows just who you are?"

"Silver and Rouge are the only other ones…oh and these three guys I met in Nevada, Tex, Enzeo, and the third didn't give me his name."

"Do you think Andy knows them?"

"No idea…all the same, if I see them I'll let you know,"

"Wait…if Silver's in on this…then that means…"

I growled, "Son of a bitch!"

"Guys! Please say you can hear me…tell me they haven't killed you already?" I heard out of nowhere, it was in my head…only one person could do that.

"Sonic…please tell me you heard that too," I said

"Yeah; that was Silver, he's the only one I know that has telepathy,"

"Go ahead Silver, we hear you,"

"Oh thank Chaos…listen they've got her…"

"What…you're kidding?"

"I just got off the phone with some guy named Andy…he says he's going to kill Blaze if I don't bring Shadow in. I don't know what to do now!"

I growled, "Calm down, boy, just make your way towards Fort Walton, Sonic and I will meet you there in about two days, from there we're going to sort this out, don't worry,"

"Shadow…enough secrets…why the hell are you always on the run?"

I was lost for words. Sonic actually looked at me with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Look…this all about money," I said

"Then just pay the bastard and be done with it," Sonic said standing up.

I sighed, "If only it were that easy,"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm dead broke; no retirement salary since the discharge was dishonorable, no job because of my supposed record from Congress, and eventually, no roof over my head and scrapping for food in the allies, until I established my chains that is,"

"I don't get it though," Silver said, "Why not go to Club Rouge in Metropolis?"

"Because Rouge doesn't offer asylum to quote military scumbags end quote; I would've gone to Amy but…she left me when Kelly got to her and lied to her. I was fed up with my bad luck so when she ended our relationship…I just walked away,"

"Wow…Shadow…I had no idea," Sonic said

He must've heard my voice strain, I was trying to hold tears back, but one escaped to my lap, staining my already black jeans a darker shade.

"But that no longer matters, I could careless now about my situation, when someone threatens my friends…no my brothers, that sets me off…like I really am some kind of WMD like I once thought I was."

"Shadow, that's not true," Silver said, "You aren't just some weapon, you're you! You are Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life form…and our friend,"

I looked at Sonic who was smiling, he gave me that somewhat annoying thumbs up gesture.

I allowed myself a smirk, "Thanks guys,"

"So what's the plan Shadow?"

"The plan is, we're going to Uptown Station, and we're going to rescue them…you two will take them home while I keep Andy busy,"

"That's suicide!" Sonic shouted

"You're going to get yourself killed!" Silver said

"To be honest guys…I've got nothing to lose…if I die doing this…Sonic, tell Amy I'm sorry,"

Silence for a few seconds

"Rodger that,"

"Worst-case scenario would be losing you bro, I'll see you guys in Fort Walton,"

I relaxed a bit, "So that's how it's going to be is it Andy? Well lets see how long you can keep a pyrokinetic cat and Sonic's wife whose smarter than most people I know from escaping on their own,"

"You really think they could?"

"Hell yeah, Blaze could tourch anyone who follows and I'll bet Sally's already made an escape plan,"

"She reminds me so much of Tails…"

"Chaos rest the boys soul,"

A/N: Yes as you can see Tails is one of my less favorite characters, hence his lack of appearance in any of my stories. I mentioned him only because I had to reference the boy at least once. I DON'T HATE HIM, I just don't like him.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Attention all readers; if you haven't read the Shadow's Nazi Zombies series, then you need to check it out; for those of you who have, if you paid attention to it I've referenced Shadow Rider in it with the GUN Intel Insurrection, which is was is happening here; and before you ask YES it does tie in with the SNZ series. I tend to do that a lot by that I mean tie my stories to each other if possible. This is planned mostly to be a fairly shot fic, any shorter and it would be a one-shot; I'd like your opinions for chapter ideas if you have any. Post your ideas in your reviews or send them in a PM, I'll be sure to give credit for those I use where credit is do. Until then RR&R (Read Review and Relax)

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><p>Shadow rider Ch 5<p>

Sonic was still on the roof. How did I know that? I was up there with him; he'd been looking into the sunset for whatever reason. I was against the roof access door, leaning against the concrete frame. I'd been browsing through Sonic's iPod, the whole time thinking he at least had a good taste in music. I scrolled through the artists before settling on System of a Down. I withdrew one of the headphones from my ear and scoffed. Sonic looked up at me.

"Prison system my ass," I whispered.

"Let me guess, you just listened to Prison Song right?" he asked

I nodded stopping the music and handing it back to him.

"Do you really think we can do this?" he asked after about a five-minute awkward silence

"Of course we can do it. Gods, who's better prepared to than we are?"

"GUN,"

I blistered at the mention of them, "Fuck GUN, I give them ten years of my life and they repay me by screwing me over like this,"

"Do you need to be hit on the head again so you forget this?"

I shook my head, "Don't remind me of my cases of amnesia Faker,"

"Now there's a word I haven't heard in a while,"

I sighed, "When was the last time the two of us fought?"

Sonic shrugged, "I remember the ARK though a little too well,"

"That was a nightmare come to life and both of us know it,"

He nodded

I stared at the setting sun, allowing a smirk, "How about a quick one…for old time sake?"

He rose, "It's been too long since I actually fought someone,"

We leapt to the ground and headed away from the hotel into the woods, I found an open area not too far away and we squared off.

"First fight in a while huh?" I said

"What? You think you'll win this time?" he replied cocky as ever.

"Oh you're dead, nothing lethal though, I'll need you alive tomorrow when we make for New Orleans,"

"Rodger,"

"Sign to stop is this," I did the cutthroat gesture

"Got it,"

Silence from there on, we circled each other waiting for the other to strike first. I teleported and ended up behind him, throwing the first strike; if this was Halo I would've probably gotten that but the strike was no where near lethal, just enough to throw him into the air. He recovered curling into a Spin Dash.

"You want to talk about something old…" I whispered and dodged it.

"C'mon Sonic," I said once out of the way, "Show me something new, at least prove you haven't been completely lazy like I think,"

"Alright, you asked for it,"

I watched him closely, he back flipped and started spinning in reverse.

"Sonic WIND!" He shouted

The wind picked up and carried me into the air, when out of nowhere I had Spin Dashes charging me left and right. Four hit me, but most were dodged. The last and most powerful of them did however nail me, and flung my tumbling figure straight into the ground. The dirt plumed into the air as a crater was formed where I landed.

"Congratulations," I said, "You've just proven that in the years I've known you, you have been improving your technique…to an extent,"

I rose out of my crater and dusted myself off.

"So you think that will work on Andy?" He asked when he landed near the edge of the crater.

"Only if he doesn't know how to counter it, which now I do,"

"Really…let's see it!"

I jumped up out of the crater and Sonic curled back into the Sonic Wind. I waited for the gust to catch me. That happened just as I predicted. I sensed Sonic out and waited for the perfect opportunity. I sensed his Spin Dash not long after.

"Chaos CONTROL!"

Color's reversed and everything slowed down. I saw Sonic still flying at me, he was pretty fast but more like the average person jogging. I moved towards him with a quick burst of flame from my Air Skates and spun around in a front flip my right foot coming down like Thor's hammer. Time reverted when my foot connected with his back. Sonic grunted and fell into the dirt below, right where I'd landed earlier.

"Andy can use Chaos Control," I said to him from the edge of the crater, "If you don't mix things up a bit, he'll eventually counter that Sonic. I could've killed you that second."

"And how would you have done that?" He replied starting to stand up.

"My foot plus the back of your head, enough said,"

"Thanks for the tip; what about you Shads? Do you have any new tricks I should be aware of?"

I contemplated it but shook my head. I half lied there, I did have a technique I wanted to try, but I don't know what would happen if it went wrong.

"Do you really want to see it?" I asked.

"Yeah,"

"Fine but I wont use it on you,"

I pulled him out of the crater.

I formed a Chaos Spear in my hand a moment later.

"I've seen the Chaos Spear before Shadow, that's nothing new,"

"Is it?"

I poured more energy into the spear, which formed it into a literal spear.

"What the…?"

I spun it and started the exhibition I'd been practicing for a while, seeing as I sometimes would just to show off to the others in my unit.

"And…what's that supposed to do?" Sonic said.

"Do you want me to smack you with this?" I asked

"Uh…sure,"

I turned to him the spear pointed, "Alright, but fair warning, I've been hit by this thing…not fun."

"C'mon…hit me with your best shot,"

I teleported closing the distance and clubbed him the calf before stepping in front of him and smacking him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, before extinguishing it, (one of the Assassins' Creed Counters) the heat from the weapon was just too much now. Sonic was clutching his chest and his leg at the same time.

"Holy shit…you weren't kidding," he shouted between swears and curses.

"Need some help?"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK!"

I shrugged and started back towards the inn.

"Where the hell are you going!"

"Oh you do need help?"

"Damn it Shadow! This is no time to start fucking with my head,"

"Oh come on, I was only kidding, jeez,"

In all honesty, that was payback for a certain incident I will not mention, not anytime soon at least. I offered him a hand, he took it and pulled himself to his feet.

"Do you think you'll be able to run tomorrow?" I asked now actually thinking of the first half of my attack.

"I'll be fine…" he replied, then hissed walking on it.

I supported him on my shoulder and we headed back.

I let him limp to the bed, and he lifted his leg, I felt the area where I struck, it was bruised, but given our natural resistance to long term injury, which for whatever reason all Mobians have, I suspected it would be fine by tomorrow morning.

"So how's it feel?"

"Like someone shot me with a paintball gun point blank in the leg and sun-burnt it at the same time,"

"So…on a scale one to ten with ten being the worst thing you've ever felt?"

"Probably a six,"

My curiosity got the better of me, "What would be a ten?"

"Changing into a Werehog,"

I flattened my ears and half shut my eyes, "I'm not going to ask,"

"Okay, I'm going to get some sleep,"

With that Sonic rolled over in his bed and was quiet.

I sat there for a minute before shutting the lights out and pulling myself under the comforter on my own bed and shut my eyes.

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><p>AN: Reviews are always accepted by me, don't be afraid to review…I don't get pissed over someone saying my work is horrid...usually that turns into a whole bit of me saying, "Okay your opinion…why are you flaming me when you clearly have a problem," Constructive criticism people…please no flames…that's the reason I left the last site where I posted stories. If you like it then…cool =D. I hardly know what I'm typing anymore…its like two in the morning, I think I'll follow Sonic and Shadow.

Shadow: Great…another follower.

Shadow…this isn't Twitter so…yeah.

Shadow: Did I say I was on Twitter?

No but you need to leave MySpace that's for sure

Shadow: *flips me off*

Okay…whatever…that's only a finger *returns the gesture* I can do it too.

Shadow: Maybe we should both turn in for the night…

Agreed. Well guys this is CharmedPluto signing off, later. C'mon Shadow let's get some sleep…while we still can.

Shadow: *yawns and lays on my couch*

Me: *goes upstairs and goes to bed*


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Well it's a new day…I guess since my brother stole my copy of Halo: Reach last night, I don't own Shadow the Hedgehog anymore, TeamFourStar hasn't made episode 25, (though DBZ Kia abridged was funny as hell) none of my friends are on Facebook and I wont get the next two episodes of DBZ Kia until Saturday, I suppose I could consult my editor and Shadow about the next entry in the Shadow Rider. Well guys?

Shadow: You do realize Rapid isn't here right?

*Facepalm* Yes I realize that.

Shadow: So what kind of hell do you plan on putting Sonic Silver and I through today?

If you read it when I'm done then you'll find out…hope you like Cajun food Shadow.

Shadow: *Licks lips* Only in New Orleans.

WIN! Well let's hope Sonic feels the same.

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><p>Shadow Rider Ch 6<p>

I awoke to the alarm clock going off. I fought the urge to blast the damn thing with a Chaos Spear and instead smashed the snooze button with a clenched fist. I felt something shatter into pieces, and quickly sat up, looking at the nightstand. The clock was in a thousand pieces that were sprawled all over the nightstand.

"Wow…" I said unimpressed

I looked over at the other bed; Sonic was still dead asleep. I stood up and grabbed myself a towel and headed into the shower. As the water sunk down passed my fur and quills, I couldn't help but think of our next stop on our way to Uptown Station. If Andy was really in control here then we'd have a problem just getting into the warehouse; otherwise this may be just a bit easier…maybe too easy. A trap possibly? I shook my head clear of any doubt; they had Blaze and Sally captive…as far as we knew. I allowed the rare smirk; something told me that they had already caused Andy and his associates all kinds of hell. Best-case scenario they've escaped and are on the run back towards us. Worst-case would be if they haven't even attempted to escape and have just been…I blinked twice then grunted in frustration, not knowing what was going on was annoying and unhelpful. I focused on the warmth of the water; why was it that hotels always seemed to have a limitless supply of hot water? I didn't care why but I was glad they did. I folded my arms, still trying to piece this jigsaw together. I just hoped something didn't happen and screw us over. I also had Silver in the back of my mind, wondering how far behind us he was. I had a feeling he wasn't too far…after all I did see him back in New Mexico at the diner before I met Andy. Maybe the boy was actually going to pass us today…provided he had been riding all night that is…I seriously doubted that. There was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"You almost done in there?" I heard Sonic's muffled voice reply.

"Yeah just give me a minute,"

I soaped up and quickly rinsed off before grabbing a towel as well as my cloths and getting out, the towel wrapped around my waist. I opened the door with my shirt jacket and jeans slung over my shoulder, "Shower's all yours,"

Sonic entered then shut the door and locked it.

I pulled my cloths on, and went downstairs to the back parking lot where employees parked, next to the managers Mercedes was my bike, right where I left it. Satisfied I went back up to the room. I saw Sonic with a shirt half on and his towel sprawled across the bed.

"Jeez, it's a miracle your house is as clean as it is if this is how you get ready in the morning," I commented

Sonic's head popped through the hole in his shirt, "Well, I'm usually gone in the morning and Sally I guess cleans up the place before she heads to work,"

I shrugged, "Can you run?"

Sonic jogged in place but winced and stopped, "No…my leg still doesn't feel right from yesterday,"

I rolled my eyes, "I guess you shouldn't have abandon the Challenger back in Lionsville,"

"I didn't exactly abandon it, I brought it to the shop, so its back that way."

I half shut my eyes, "Meet me in the parking lot,"

Sonic nodded and limp-sprinted down the stairs. I teleported back to Lionsville. I could only manage to get myself to the outskirts of town and skated toward the shop where Sonic took his car in for maintenance. I found the place near a Dunkin' Donuts, and stereotypically I spotted two police cruisers in the parking lot. I'd have to make this quick, no screwing around. I entered the shop and told the manager I was here for the 2142 Dodge Challenger SRT V8.

"You a friend of Sonic's?" he asked

"Yes…he's busy with other things right now and asked me to get the car for him," I replied.

He grabbed the key to it and told me to wait out front. I did so and not a few minutes later the navy blue can came around the corner. This was the first time I'd really gotten a look at it, the wheels were sport custom, it had a black stripe cutting down the middle of the hood as well as the roof of the cabin. I sat in it the seat, all black leather, very nice. I pulled out and started down the road, heading towards the interstate. When I hit entrance ramp I used Chaos Control and teleported back to the hotel. I ended up in the back parking lot and hit the brakes easing to a stop, before driving around to the front. I saw Sonic waiting on the front porch. I got out after cutting the engine and tossing him the key.

"That should take care of our little running problem," I said heading back to get my bike.

I pulled that around as Sonic stuck his head out of the window, a pair of blue tinted sunglasses now over his eyes.

"You lead I'll follow," Sonic said, "You probably know these roads better than I do,"

I smirked pulling my helmet on, "Then just pray you can keep up,"

I pulled out of the parking lot back onto the interstate, Sonic was right behind me. I had my helmet load my HUD and start blasting rock radio on XM. That was one of the things I still had left, I'd lose the service at the end of the year unless my life turned around, which I'd say wouldn't be anytime soon. On the road I noted a few things, one Sonic's Challenger was pretty damn fast, it was able to keep up with me, I guess as far as vehicular racing goes the two of us are still dead even. Not much later I spotted a familiar white Suzuki racing bike, with a similar white rider on it.

I sped up and caught up to him.

"Yo!" I shouted

The rider glanced at me with golden eyes from under his helmet before turning his attention back to the road, "So I did pass you guys on the way out here?"

"Luck would have it Silver, c'mon, we've got a job to do."

"Are you guys stopping in New Orleans?"

"That's the plan, c'mon, I want to be there before night,"

The two of us hit the gas, I could hear Sonic's engine from the Challenger as well as the squealing from Silver's Suzuki. We were on the road for a while, all the time making for New Orleans. Sadly we ran into problems…traffic problems. I slowed down and stopped. I looked around the car in front of me and growled in frustration.

"What is it Shadow?" Silver said

"Traffic's backed up for as far as I can see…I've got a feeling this is going to take a while,"

Sonic was next to us one lane over, he rolled down the window, "So now what? If we don't get to New Orleans by tonight, we'll never make it to Uptown Station in time,"

"Don't worry Sonic, we'll make it…we always do,"

I looked up as traffic started to part; something was headed this way. I looked up and suddenly three cars were tossed aside like toys. The vehicles crashed on opposites sides of the road, one of them landed in oncoming traffic with the driver still inside.

"Chaos Control!"

I'd stopped time and teleported to the car and pulled the driver to the shoulder on our side of the interstate before snapping my fingers. Time began to flow again.

"Are you okay?" I asked her

She looked up at me, "Shadow?"

I hadn't noticed it but in my arms was Amy, the girl I thought would never want to see me again. I was a tad panicked and teleported away.

I motioned Sonic to pull off to the shoulder and get Amy in the car. He pulled off onto the shoulder and motioned her in. Silver and I pulled our bikes off of the road and watched as more cars were flung out of the way.

"What the hell's going on over there?" I wondered aloud.

Silver jumped up and levitated, then unimpressed he set down.

"It's one of Robotnik's mechs. I think it's E-2000."

I jumped onto someone's car, and got a good look, it was E-2000; it was the size that gave it away. I frowned.

"C'mon, let's kick the bastard's ass and be done with it," I said.

Silver and I charged towards it. I noted more cars being tossed aside. One was tossed at the two of us, but Silver caught it, and opened the four doors, the occupants dropped to the road.

"I'm going to have to borrow your car, ma'am," Silver said.

"The transmission sticks," she replied taking her party away from the area.

"That's not going to be a problem,"

I charged a Chaos Lance (the upgrades Chaos Spear I can use as an actual weapon) and took cover behind the car as E-2000's machineguns started to spin and fire. Silver tossed the car at it. The impact jarred the mech back and I jumped up with the Chaos Lance ready. I slashed straight down.

The next thing I remember was a flash of electricity and a spray of oil that coated my lance and was incinerated instantly. I landed in front of the mech as it fell over split completely in half. I turned and walked away as the robot detonated in a furious reaction from the main core overloading. I extinguished the Chaos Lance, and got strange looks from those we'd just saved. I heard a sound, it was percussive, and rapid, then again from another person; then another…applauds.

"They actually appreciate the work we do?" I whispered.

"Of course they do," Sonic said, "That's what being a hero is like…mostly,"

I noticed Amy was still in the car. I walked that way noting my helmet was still on, that gave me a bit of stealth.

"So…I guess you aren't the person I was expecting to see." She said

I hesitated, "What's your name?"

"Amy Rose,"

"Do you live around here?"

"No I'm just passing through…I've been looking for someone for a while now…I need to set things right with him,"

"This Shadow person right?"

She nodded

I honestly couldn't believe I was doing this, pretending to be someone else and actually talking to my ex who may or may not be looking for me.

"Well, I certainly hope you find him," I said after a second of thought.

"What's with the helmet?" she asked

"It keeps my head safe…especially in combat like that,"

"You remind me of the guy I'm looking for actually, he's got a lot of Chaos powers like you do,"

I sighed, "Amy…"

"Yes?"

"Your search ends today,"

With that said I took of my helmet.

She was speechless. I'm not sure why.

"Shadow…why?"

"Because of my sense of morality,"

"You disappear for a full year, and yet here you are right in front of me…I've missed you,"

I allowed myself a smile, "I've missed you too,"

"OO I just love reunions…"

I whirled around and saw Andy; he had a Katana drawn.

"Breaking them up that is,"


	8. Chapter 7

Shadow Rider Ch 7

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, "Did you send E-2000 after us?"

"Maybe I did," He twisted the katana, "Maybe I didn't,"

"Shadow…who is he?" Amy asked; she was trembling.

"Agent Andy Ross, at your service ma'am," he said back, "I'll be taking Shadow to a nice cozy place where his finances can't follow,"

"What's he talking about?"

Sonic and Silver were at my side a few seconds later.

"Do you remember what I told about the military discharging me?" I asked

She nodded.

"There you go,"

"There's more to it than that, you must realize now…this goes deeper than just finances," Andy said.

I was curious now, and I'll bet the others were also.

"Mind explaining?" Silver said before any of us could even flinch.

"Not at all; I've been hired to ensure that my employer gains command of the Ghost unit, and eventually the rest of the GUN will fall under our control. We knew there was no hope of convincing the current commander to follow us, and when that kid Sam threatened to rat us out, well we had to do what was best for our cause,"

Sonic cringed, "You killed my son?"

"Oh my…well yes we did…but fear not Sonic…you'll be joining him soon!"

Andy lunged but Silver countered with telekinesis and caught him mid-stride.

"Finish explaining! Why the hell would you want GUN under your control?"

"A coup; isn't it obvious,"

"A military coup…?"

"Of course, my employer wants the nation under his control, and now you clearly see that we've easily gotten close to our goal…even if it cost a few people."

"My son sacrifices for his country…then gets betrayed by some greedy little bitch with a coup in mind…" Sonic said then growled and dropped to his knee. I sensed a dark power emerging from him.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" He shouted erupting into Dark Sonic and bomb rushing Andy. Sonic hit the man so hard Silver was tossed on his butt and Andy sent flying towards the tree line. Silver rose wiping his nose, there was blood on his hand.

"Wow…" he said impressed, "I've never had someone hit that hard before."

I looked back toward the trees; Andy must've collided with some of them…actually a whole lot of them. The trunks were broken in two like toothpicks. I was surprised at his sudden rage; even if Andy had just told him what happened.

A minute later I could see flashes and finally the hedgehog in question smashed into the ground next to us. Sonic jumped to his feet but was knocked back to the ground when Andy Sparta kicked him into oncoming traffic. One car swerved and hit Sonic broad side.

"Sonic!" I reflexively shouted.

"Ah…tragic, oh well…I guess he would eventually have become a threat to us," Andy said.

"You bastard!" Silver shouted and rushed him.

"First rule of katana combat…"

Andy chuckled and swung his katana; the blade caught the boy in the side and flung him sideways into the ground before he curb stomped him.

"Never blindly rush your opponent," Andy said then kicked him in the side, "Class dismissed,"

He then dashed at me; I formed my Chaos Lance and parried his strike.

"Amy run! Get as far away from here as…"

The blade caught me in the leg and then a second time; this time through the chest…yes I did say through. I choked up blood as Andy kicked me off of the blade and into the dirt.

"So you thought that little card trick was the best I could do?" Andy said then scoffed.

"Amy…run…" I muttered before blacking out.

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><p>I could hear something but I wasn't sure what it was. The next thing I knew I heard a hissing noise and my body got very warm all of a sudden…had I just been…? I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a cryo pod. My wounds were gone…even the stitches I'd gotten while Sally was around had healed up nicely.<p>

I pulled myself out of the pod and looked around…where was I?

"Well…its good to see that Andy didn't kill you Shadow; I was frankly quite worried," I looked around and spotted someone very familiar…and very much a rival of mine.

"Doctor Robotnik," I said.

"I was worried about you…when I found you and the others on the interstate after E-2000 went AWL I was afraid you all had been killed."

I jumped out of the pod, "So wait, you saved Sonic and Silver also?"

"Indeed,"

I looked at him, he was standing in front of a computer monitoring the entire east coast. There were red dots all over the screen. I also noted the sheer volume of robots and weapons in the area below us.

"But…I thought you hated us,"

"I do…but have you ever heard of the phrase the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"Yes…but that should've gotten you to side with Andy, why are you siding with us?"

"Because with a threat like that out there I'd never be able to establish my empire!"

I flattened my ears, "I should've figured,"

"According to the satellites I have in orbit, Andy has forces spread throughout the country, spies of all kinds are working from him; these dots represent the locations of all of his spies on the east coast."

"Where did you bring us exactly?"

"My underground base, beneath the Café Du Mons in New Orleans French Quarter,"

Wow, at least we'd gotten closer to our goal of reaching Uptown Station and rescuing Sally, Blaze, and now possibly Amy. I hated all of the uncertainty around here.

"You know, when Robotnik offered to help I thought it would be some kind of trap but I guess he knows what he's doing," I heard from nearby.

I turned and saw Amy; she was okay.

"Amy, you're all right!" I shouted

She smiled at me; I did also.

"Oh blast it!" Robotnik shouted out, "Andy's forces just jumped off the radar again, damn old technology!"

"Where were their last known locations?"

"The closest one was at one of the bars on Bourbon Street, he should give us the information we need to figure out Andy's next target."

"Or who his employer is,"

"He was hired?"

I nodded, "He told us what they're planning,"

"What are they planning?"

"A military take over…this is pretty much a secret rebellion within the GUN itself,"

Robotnik pointed to one of the dots that showed up again, "This guy's the nearest agent; can you two follow him and figure out who's involved in this insurrection?"

"Will do,"

He handed me a wrist comn, which I took put on and started to leave.

"Shadow…what if they catch you?" Amy said

I stopped but didn't look back, "They won't,"

* * *

><p>I was walking down Bourbon Street alone keeping the thoughts of lust from the pictures of the strippers outside of the bars in the back of my mind. Amy had elected to stay behind until Sonic and Silver woke up. The locater was pointing me into one of the clubs…typical, an uninvolved soldier would be here of all places. I entered and came across the guard in the front; he must've been one of the guys that check your ID to make sure you're at least eighteen.<p>

"Riding in the dark has its benefits," I said

"But it also has its flaws like lowered vision," he replied

I smirked; I loved my coded speaking since it always worked.

"So you are apart of my chains,"

"Very much indeed. Do you want some cash to attract the ladies?"

"No…but I am looking for someone; he's be a GUN soldier,"

"Oh…Romeo…yeah he's here, he's in Scarlet's booth, he should be out in about five minutes or so, his salary usually can't get him more than that,"

"Alright, I'll be at the bar which booth belongs to this Scarlet person?"

"If you're sitting at the bar it's the third on the left, drinks are on the house for you Rider…and good luck with whatever you want from Romeo,"

I nodded and headed inside. I stole a glance at the dance floor, there were all kinds of people here, but I was here for one person; this Romeo character. I sat at the bar and looked at the shelves; all full of hard drinks like brandy and whisky. I never liked hard liquor, don't ask why, I just don't. Now I was always one for a good bushwhacker, don't get me wrong but otherwise give me a beer any day.

"Amberbock, draft," I said to the bartender who hard her back to me.

"That voice…" she said.

I hung my head, just perfect…I could really us Rouge's advice…NOT! She turned to me and smiled.

"Well hey there Shadow," She said.

"Hi Rouge," I replied

"What brings you here?"

"Business,"

She looked skeptical, "What kind of business?"

"The important kind,"

"Why do you always do that to me Shadow?"

"Because it's not your business to know what I'm up to,"

"Ah…I get it…"

"What?"

"She left you didn't she,"

My ears flattened, "That's old news Rouge…am I going to get my drink or not?"

"Not until you tell me what's up,"

"Up is a direction, now can I please have my beer?"

"Not what I meant…what's going on?"

I huffed a breath, and stole a glance towards Scarlet's booth.

"You're sick you know that?"

"Rouge there was only one girl for me…but obviously she didn't feel the same when Kelly decided to lie to her…the damn bitch,"

"Ah…so you're the innocent one?"

"100%"

Rouge then poured my drink.

I glanced back at Scarlet's booth, it was curtained in red shades to hide whatever she and her occupant were doing…which more than likely involved nothing more than strip teases. The curtains flew open for about a second and a male fox with brown fur came out and headed for the back of the bar. I sipped my drink and told Rouge to hold onto it for me before I stood up and started to follow him. I heard her say something but I wasn't sure what exactly. I cut across the dance floor still following him. He stopped to dance with Scarlet, whom was a cat with rusty red fur, hence her name. I waited there just watching until he finally noticed me.

"Can I help you?" he said

"Yes you can by telling me who you work for?" I replied

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Does a guy named Andy Ross sound familiar to you?"

"Sorry buddy…I have no clue what you're talking about,"

I sighed, so it was going to be like that was it? I formed a Chaos Lance and set the tip on his shoulder just long enough for him to realize I already knew.

"Mr. Romeo, you're trying my patience…and do you want to end up like the last guy who did that?"

Romeo turned around slowly, "Whoa…when they said spears of light they weren't kidding?"

"So you do know what's going on?"

Lightning flashed from the spear and struck the roof, causing sparks to rain down near us. Dancers, exotic and non, turned to us; I heard one gasp and another scream.

"Look pal…this isn't exactly the place to try to interrogate someone," Romeo said in defense

"And why the hell not?"

I heard footsteps then a grunt before I felt glass shatter over my head and liquid running down my head along my shoulders. I jarred forward dropping my lance in the process.

"Well I guess that settles that," Romeo said

I looked up at the assailant…if I wasn't pissed before I was now.

"You think a beer bottle can stop me?" I asked

I lunged at the attacker and kicked him in the chest knocking him to the floor before teleporting in front of Romeo just before he could get away, I had my arms folded across my chest.

"What…what are you?"

"I am the Shadow Rider, and you are going to tell me what I need to know,"

"Go to hell,"

I chuckled, "Where do you think I'm from? If you don't answer me I intend on dragging your soul back down with me when Satan needs me again,"

"Whoa…freaky…are you serious?"

I glared at him, "Do I look like I'm fucking around?"

"Okay, okay; just don't hurt me…"

"Start talking,"

"Andy wants to take over the whole GUN then America…after that he plans to launch nukes at Russia and North Korea and ignite World War III…I don't why he wants that but he promised me a higher rank and pay…that's all I know I swear,"

"Andy himself told me he was a hired gun…but you tell me this is his idea…so which is it?"

"Andy was commissioned some time after Captain Sam's accidental death and Captain Maverick's discharge, he's one of the intelligence officers in the GUN."

"Thank you for your cooperation,"

"So…you're letting me go?"

"There's just one more thing I require,"

"And what's that?"

"A promise from you…if you so much as breathe a word of this to Andy…"

I formed a Chaos Spear and grabbed him by the throat, "I'll come find you and drag your soul straight to hell!"

I let him go and left the bar.

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><p>AN: Well Shadow…the last two chapters what'd you think?

Shadow: I think you referenced Rango and Assassin's Creed

That aside what'd you think?

Shadow: *grins* I think you make me seem like a combination of the Snake guy from Rango and Altiar

Kind of what I was aiming for, if Rapid were here what do you think he'd say?

Shadow: Probably would say you have a foul mouth

Hey you said it not me

Shadow: But you wrote it

(Continue arguing until…)

Shadow: *forms Chaos Spear* Do I have to drag you straight to hell?

Calm down Shadow…jeez *snaps fingers and Shadow's Chaos Spear vanishes*

Shadow: What the hell?

Author powers FTW. Well guys…I think I'll hit it…as in the road, I'll be job hunting for the next few days before I get dragged back to school (gonna be a junior =D) but remember keep checking my profile for future fan fictions to hit the board, keep kicking ass on all games and fan fiction worlds and last but certainly not least don't be a politician (or I keel you!) Peace guys! OH and PS my Halo: Reach Clan; Nuclear Winter (for those who haven't read my Clan base problem one-shot) is recruiting members of all rank. if you're interested message gamertag: RAPIDFIRE24 (the clan's owner, my best friend, and ironically my editor) he'll discuss the tests for you to take for membership (which is a fancy way of saying to get in you have to impress him in a game of SWAT) Later guys...again


	9. Chapter 8

Shadow Rider Ch 8

I walked back down the street after having interrogated Romeo; his information seemed solid but I still had my doubts. Ten minutes passed when I spotted two soldiers both in uniform walking down Magazine Street. I got a good look at them, both in service dress, my eye ridge rose. Now why on Mobius would two soldiers be in New Orleans and not on base in uniform? Well I've walked off of base in uniform but never gone this far from the base, so seeing these two in one of the party capitals of the US was a tad strange. I decided to follow them, deactivating my wrist comn as I went. They stopped in an ally, which caused me to have to teleport up to the roof of one of the steel catwalks. I had very sensitive hearing so I focused on those two.

"Did you really have to drag me all the way out here just to tell me some dumb secret?" the one said

"Yes! For gods sake it wasn't safe…Andy's forces are everywhere!" the other said

"Okay…slow down…who is this Andy you keep talking about?"

"He's the leader of this whole GUN takeover, he told me if anyone involved is seen telling others of what's going on…they die,"

"I thought Andy was just some mercenary the government hired?"

"No…Congress commissioned the bastard when Captain Shadow was discharged,"

"That's a shame; I never thought he'd pull something like that,"

"And now Andy tells us he's dead, suicide,"

"Fine…then can we please get back to base…or at least you could get me a beer,"

"Yeah that sounds good,"

They left the ally…I swear this is was turning into an Assassination from the game…I'd just eavesdropped on two guys who knew something about my problem, and not an hour prior I interrogated someone and threatened to kill him…I sighed well if this is how it plays out.

I leapt down and dashed passed them as they left the ally.

"Wait…was that…?" one said

"No way man, the Captain's dead,"

I kept heading back towards the Café not trying to attract any unwanted attention. I then made my way to the back of the restaurant and teleported straight down. I felt the steel floor under my shoes and started for the medic chamber. Robotnik was at his computer, he had Sonic's and Silver's medical records pulled up on the monitor. Silver was stable, my guess was he was either sleeping or in a meditative state as he was sometimes.

"How are they doctor?"

"Stable, Silver's brain readings are extremely erratic though, almost like he's having some kind of nightmare,"

"And Sonic?"

"If I know my own nemesis, and I certainly do, he's in a sort of unconsciousness that I've dubbed 'Hero's Sleep'."

My eye ridge rose again, "Mind explaining?"

"It's a phenomenon of the brain that for some reason only appears in Chaos Mobians…it's the section of your brain that allows you to tap into your Chaos powers even without a Chaos Emerald, the more unlocked this part is…well frankly the more dangerous one can be,"

"That would explain why I'm able to use my powers without one but you still haven't answered my question,"

"I was getting to that, it's more or less like when a Sayian from DBZ recovers from an extensive injury, this Hero's Sleep is the same concept except the recovery accelerates the rate at which that part of the brain unlocks itself,"

"So as we speak, part of my mind is slowly unlocking itself making me even more of a threat?"

"Picture this part of your brain as a kind of muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it becomes."

"So you're saying that I basically have a muscle in my head?"

"For lack of a better term; yes,"

I shuddered, now thinking of the strange image of part of my head being a ripped muscle, but this was part of my brain…not another muscle in my head.

"Any luck, Shadow?" Amy asked

"I've learned what I can; Romeo gave us a bit of insight. Andy's been misleading us; he's the one running the takeover not just some hired gun. He has forces everywhere that believe I have committed suicide, but his forces are sadly mistaken." I said

"And what exactly do you plan on doing about it?"

"Simple, I'm going to execute what I originally intended to, I'm going to rescue Sally and Blaze from Uptown Station; then I'm going to put a stop to this take over…no matter what the cost,"

Silence.

"Shadow…even for you that's…" Robotnik said

"Suicidal?" I answered

"You read my mind,"

"Look I'm not out to prove anything, or try and scrap for my job back but I'll be damned if the ones I care about suffer because of me. Today…the legend of the Shadow Rider dies,"

Amy was at my side, "Shadow you can't do this by yourself! You'll be killed!"

"If that's the price that must be paid to ensure that you and the others will not be harmed…then so be it,"

With that, I left the base and started down the road towards the interstate on foot, seeing as my bike's whereabouts were unknown. I didn't have the slightest clue what was going to happen. All I knew was that today this little folly ends.


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: Just thought I'd point out, more fighting will be coming, so those of you who requested it in a matter of speaking…well, your wish will be granted next chapter. (ie. I haven't seen much action around the servers, or I haven't done anything awesome worth recalling)

Shadow Rider Ch 9.

I hadn't even made it out of the French Quarter when I saw the shear volume of GUN soldiers assaulting the Café. I just kept low and out of sight until I was making my way up the on ramp onto I-10. Once there I pushed off of my left foot and filtered a minimal bit of Chaos energy to my skates shooting me forward. I was getting looks from drivers as I went, mostly shrugs but there was the occasional what-the-hell-is-that look. I kept going, keeping speed with even the cars that were doing easily 100 mph. When the opportunity arose, I'd even free-ran a little bit; mostly just throwing in the occasional kick off of the off-ramp wall and leaping over the overhanging bridge to the street below. When I finally entered Mobile only one thing could be said about my free-running; concrete jungle. I was grinding rails left and right, front-flipping over small buildings and wall-running like there was no tomorrow. That lasted until I was seen by a few agents in a pick-up truck. I was no longer screwing around with my free-running; I was actually using what it was intended for, evasion. For those who don't know what Parkour is, what I was doing with that pick-up following me was a pretty good insight. I finally lost them by running up the side of a building and stopping on the roof. I got some view out of it, I couldn't see much but I did see my new route; straight ahead and then a left turn to the Mobile tunnel. I leapt to the street, rolling when I landed, and skating that way. The tunnel was huge compared to four-foot-tall me. I decided to have some Sonic style fun and skated along the side walk then eventually along the curves on the wall. This was probably the most fun I'd had all year; I know pathetic. There was always a small bit of enjoyment I'd gotten out of free-running, but I didn't like spending the energy when I could go just as fast on my bike. When I crossed one of the bridges leading towards Milton I skid to a very loud and very foggy halt, before jumping off onto the shoulder. GUN had a blockade. They stopped cars and checked the driver's ID as well as registration and insurance papers before sending them on their way.

"Damn it," I swore under my breath.

I couldn't risk exposure; that would just cause problems further down the road. I'd half expected this when I was to reach the Garson Point Bridge but not all the way out here, before I even get into Milton.

That's when a very familiar blue Challenger pulled off near by and an even more familiar hedgehog got out.

"You didn't think you were going to leave without Silver and I, did you?" he said.

"Alright…just get me passed that check point and I'll be good to go,"

I heard two more motors heading towards me, one high pitched, Silver's Suzuki, the other deep and roaring…only one engine made that sound.

I turned and there was Silver and Amy heading my way, Amy driving my bike.

She pulled up next to me, a smile on her face, "Robotnik thought you might want this,"

"You'll have to drive it, if the soldiers see me on it, I'll be arrested on the spot, plus it's not insured,"

"Is it?"

In her hands were insurance papers, ironically from Nationwide, which is where I'd had my Mustang insured before they repossessed it. I smirked and motioned Sonic to pop the trunk, and after he did, I climbed inside and shut it.

The next thing I remember was opening the forward facing wall and letting some air in through the back hatch. The hatch was used for a cooler during long road trips. Trust me when I say this, you do not, repeat DO NOT, want to go on a road trip with Sonic. The only things that made the trip bearable were Sally and Amy. Sally kept the Faker focused and Amy kept me occupied. I shook my head, this was no time to linger in the past, and there was no way in hell this was some stupid road trip, this was a mission of grave importance, one that would probably cost me my life in the end, but if that was the price to set Sally and Blaze free I was willing to pay it.

I was jarred out of thought when the car started to decelerate. I shut the hatch from my side and remained quiet.

What couldn't have been longer that thirty seconds passed, it felt like thirty minutes. I then felt the car shift forward and once we reached a cruising speed I opened the hatch again and poked my head out. I felt the cold air of the air conditioning on my face, which was dripping with beads of sweat. I smiled, the cold air felt good.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sonic asked barely glancing over his shoulder.

I wiggled my way out of the trunk and sat in the back seat, "A word of advise, Sonic, don't sit in the trunk of a car…ever,"

"Gee I can't imagine why,"

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, soaking the backs of my gloves in the process and sitting back. Sonic pulled onto the shoulder and I hopped out. Amy and Silver weren't far behind us, Amy and I were basically trading spots, she was riding with Sonic and I was driving my bike. After the switch I looked at the other three and nodded before pulling onto the road and gassing it up to 120 mph. Down the road, I'd managed to fly right passed the toll booth and along Garson Point to the four-way intersection in Gulf Breeze. I turned right onto Highway 98 and followed the road for almost half an hour before I pulled off of the highway and into a gas station. Silver, Sonic, and Amy were right behind me. I then spotted a character near the pump, he was putting gas into to a 2110 Dodge Challenger; the only difference was his was blaze orange with a black racing strip rather than Navy blue. I looked over at the store and motioned to cashier that it was me. I had plenty of connections in Santa Rosa, Escambia, Okaloosa Counties and this guy, as well as the owner of the Golden Coral near Hulbert Air Field, was one of them. It was the other customer here that had me worried. He motioned to someone in the car, almost as if he was telling him to lay low, now exactly why I don't really know. A topped off and set the pump back when the guy approached. He was six-foot-four and fairly muscular, he looked military but if he was, was another question entirely. He was wearing all black; jeans, a zip-up hoodie combat boots and even a black fedora with a blue jay feather in it.

"Well if anything, the last person I expected to see around here was the famous Shadow Rider," he said a slight smirk on his face.

"So what? You want an autograph or something?" I asked

"No, just curious as why you're running,"

I shook my head and didn't say anything about it, so instead of him hearing the sob story of my screwed up life this past three years, he got nothing but a simple lie.

"I'm not running form anything,"

"Yeah and I'm not suffering from a strange genetic mutation but I'm not lying about it,"

My ridge rose, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…look it'd be easier if you've been with my friend and I through it all,"

I smirked, "Well good luck to you,"

"Same to you Rider,"

He went back to his car and I went back to my bike. The others were ready to go. This was it; my mission was officially a-go. Andy was to be stopped at all cost. I revved my engine and pulled onto the road and down the highway with the others on my six.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the huge ass delay in updating this one guys. I've had school stuff to deal with as well as my new Staff Position (I'm a cadet Master Sergeant now \m/ 0_o \m/) to deal with, not to mention some writers block that I've finally overcome.**

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow Rider Ch 10<strong>

I hate old enemies. If I haven't mentioned that before then I am now. Sonic, Silver, Amy, and I pulled up to the warehouses in Uptown Station in Fort Walton not too long after stopping for gas about an hour prior. I cut my engine and stood.

"Uptown Station…this must be the place," I said to no one really.

"I don't like this, Shadow, Andy made this too easy," Sonic said, "It's probably a trap,"

I smirked slightly, "Then there's only one thing to do,"

"Shadow…you aren't going to…" Amy started but her voice faltered to a stop.

"My DI once said the best way to avoid a trap is to spring it," I said.

"Was your DI sane Shadow?" Silver asked

"Never mind about my DIs, we're not here to discuss my…"

An alarm blared and I spotted red and blue lights; military police no doubt, we'd passed an Air Force base on the way here.

"Split up, two teams of two," I said

Amy was at my side while Sonic and Silver raced off in another direction. I grabbed Amy's hand and teleported us on top of one of the warehouses. The MPs were armed with M4s and M16-A4 assault rifles and they stormed in. Three of the five man squad took up flanking positions around Sonic's car and the other two searched it. I listened in as best as I could but didn't get much out of them aside from one commenting on the fact that Sonic was here.

"That was a bit too close," Amy commented, "Do you think Andy was expecting you?"

"No doubt about it; if Andy's half the crafty bastard I think he is…then he was expecting me," I replied.

One of the MPs turned towards us. I didn't say anything but I pulled Amy down and motioned her to stay quiet. We waited three minutes before Amy scooted forward and peered over the edge. I gripped her hand, if she got hurt…I would never forgive myself.

"Okay they left, now what Shadow?" she said

I loosened my grip on her hand, my cheeks burned red, "Uh…"

Oh real intelligent Shadow…real intelligent! I shook my head and tried sensing out Andy, but that didn't work, he was probably out of range.

"We need to head further into the warehouse district, if we don't stop him, this Coup will go through and once it does…" I stopped I didn't want to think about what this country would be under Andy's rule…or whoever he puts in command.

"Then let's go!" Amy jumped down and headed in the direction the MPs went. I jumped down and followed her.

I don't know if you've ever seen a warehouse district before but basically side by side as far as I could see there was nothing but those white and gray garage doors each the entrance to their respective warehouse. It was about six in the afternoon and the sky was starting to fade into that shade of amber. I didn't want to be stuck here at night; something told me security would be around more than there already were. Amy and I stopped and hid one of the small ally-ways between two of the units. I felt my heart racing as the one of the guards walked passed us, he was Air Force, I could tell by his uniform. It was digital camouflage and the unit tape said US/GUN Air Force. I held my breath and pressed further back into the ally. Sweat rolled down my back as I involuntarily clasped Amy's hand. The Airmen stopped. My temperature skyrocketed.

"Shadow…" Amy whispered

The Airman whirled around, "Hey you aren't supposed to be here,"

"Sorry about that we were just leaving," I said stepped out of the ally and turned to leave.

"Hold on a second…" A gloved hand grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around.

The last person I expected to see in the Air Force was Knuckles…then again, he was pretty good at finding things out…perfect for the ISR.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the government's little fugitive," he said, "And I see your girlfriend has decided to follow you?"

I growled, just hoping my cheeks weren't lavender, "So what?"

Amy looked up at me but my gaze was fixed on Knuckles.

"What? You think I'm going to turn you in?"

I let go of Amy and formed a Chaos Spear, "You'd have kill me before I submit to that asshole!"

"Relax, I'm not going to,"

That was Knuckles for you, he would lie to your face but I could tell when he meant well, there was a look in his eye every time he meant well, but my curiosity got the best of me, "And why's that?"

"Because I don't want any part of Andy's crazy plan,"

I smirked, I guess I knew my friends better than I thought.

"So he clued you in on it?" I asked

"Yeah but I refused…he pulled me from the field and now he's trying to recruit the 70th ISR Wing, my own wing, can you believe that?"

"Do you think I honestly cared for the ISR?" said a voice

I whirled around and there was Andy, he had his katana drawn and he looked like he was ready to end someone's life. His jet black hair was tapered and his bangs stuck forward slightly. He was wearing all black like he was part of the Ambu Black Ops or something.

"Don't care for the ISR huh?" Knuckles said raising his fists.

"I my new world order I can't risk leaking information to the public of my conquests after the US falls, the ISR would just be an open valve that I will close,"

I think it was about then he noticed me seeing as he smirked, "Well, the famous Shadow Rider lives, I thought I finished you off on the interstate."

"I don't die that easily,"

I guess I forgot I was still wearing my helmet, which was a full helm with a full HUD that showed my bike's status and gave me an edge on the shooting range with software built into my gloves that scans the magazine and tracks how much ammo I have left, kind of like a SWAT Halo HUD without the radar, score keeper, health tracker or armor ability.

"Even if you somehow managed to survive our encounter on the interstate I doubt you'll survive this,"

Andy stepped back and lifted a hand to the sky. I sensed something dark, only one person had shown an evil equal to this, and that was Dark Sonic…the only problem was the blue pain-in-the-neck was probably on the other side of the complex by now. Andy's shadow exploded into a column of darkness, it snaked through the air pulling into loops as it did. The dark snake slammed into the pavement with enough force to slice the _Blue Typhoon _clean in two. A tremor shook the ground rattling me to the bone. Knuckles widened his stance to stay balance and Amy braced herself on the nearest storage unit. When the ground stopped shaking all I could see was a black puddle between Andy and I. I crouched into a fighting stance and prepared for the worst.

"Rise!" Andy shouted, almost as if barking an order to a subordinate.

The shadow molded into a vaguely familiar shape, it was a demonic looking hedgehog about a tall as I was. It just stood there for a second, quills sharpened to deadly points. I had a feeling if that thing tried to bowl me over like the Faker had once, there wouldn't be much left if I got hit. Its eyes opened, the outer part of his eye that was supposed to be white was blood red and his pupil was a sage color, like a cat's eye. I immediately recognized him.

"Mephelis," I growled.

He'd been a thorn in my side a few years ago, when I met Silver and Blaze.

"So you two have met before?" Andy said then laughed, "Then you must know of his devastating power,"

Mephelis glared at me then panned his gaze to Amy and Knuckles.

"So friends of Sonic I assume?" He pointed to me, "And you must be Shadow the Hedgehog if I'm not mistaken,"

I flinched, not many people knew who I really was, most just assumed 'Rider' was my last name and that the real Shadow the Hedgehog was somewhere saving the world or protecting it from some threat that the world will never hear about. Really I was the second mentioned, I'd used the alias to avoid detection. The fact that Mephelis had recognized me off the bat was hard to believe.

"What's it matter to you?" I asked

Mephiles seemingly ignored my question and looked at Andy, "Orders sir?"

Orders? Was he under Andy's command or something? I always saw Mephiles as someone who never would want to be anyone's subordinate.

"The girl and the Staff Sergeant leave alone, you aren't to fight them unless they attack first. As for the Rider…kill him,"

"And once the mission is accomplished sir?"

"You are to return to my shadow, pending further instruction,"

"Yes sir!"

Mephiles lunged at me. I dove to the left and brought my knee up. He took the hit straight to the gut and was sent skyward. I leapt up after him but Mephiles curled and spun after me. He flew straight and true. I was too close by now to dodge and felt the full force of a thousand needles traveling unimaginably fast collide with me. My vision flashed white, great, right off the bat I've got a concussion. I tumbled out of the air and hit the ground full force.

"Shadow!" Amy shouted

I got to my feet and Mephiles was all over me. Three of his clones surrounded me. One jumped up, I spin-kicked that one across the face but a second elbowed me in the back straight into the nearest garage door. The force of the impact crumpled the steel like paper. I curled up and spun at about half speed clone two and three were thrown back. One hit the unit across from me and exploded into crystal shards that quickly vanished a second later. The other flew back into his partner and both collided with the original Mephiles. He must have been disoriented by reabsorbing all of their power again so suddenly so I unleashed three Chaos Spears at him. The spears exploded and when the smoke cleared Mephiles was still standing there his arms were covering his face. I saw my chance and rushed him. My fist collided with his jaw, I heard bones break but I wasn't really sure whose bones. I was about as sure that my two middle fingers had broken as much as I was sure that his jaw had. Mephiles spun a half circle and I followed up with a round house kick. He flew to my right. I Chaos Snapped from where I was to where he would be in about a second or two and kneed him into the air. I Chaos Snapped again this time I hammer fisted him straight to the roof of one the units. The metal shredded and he ended up inside. I overcharged a Chaos Spear into a Chaos Lance and flung it like a javelin. The unit burst into flames as shredded and melted metal shot out towards me I merely backed up slightly, willing my Air Skates to power down and I set down in front of the hole. I crossed my arms, Mephiles may have been a match for me once before but now it was no contest. I probably couldn't killed him with my left hand tied (that's my dominant hand) and probably wouldn't have even broken a sweat. I leapt down to the ground.

"Andy, this ends now!" I shouted.

"You want to fight me?" He said, his tone spoke volumes of just how cocky he was, "If I were you, Shadow, I'd be focused on the battle at hand."

I jerked around as the unit I'd blasted Mephiles inside exploded again. Knuckles covered Amy with his own body. Debris bounced harmlessly off of his back and clattered to the ground. Through the smoke I saw him walking my way.

"Don't think I can be beaten so easily Shadow, this fight is just getting started,"


	12. Chapter 11

Shadow Rider Ch 11

I crouched now flanked by Andy, his katana was shining in the now moonlit sky. Mephiles strode out of the smoke he looked angry but from what I could see he was more focused on Amy and Knuckles than anything.

"So Mephiles, you honestly think you can beat me?" I asked

He lunged forward. I ducked to his left but he must've been counting on that; his knee jammed into my visor, the glass spider-webbed with cracks as I caught air off of the hit, Mephiles appeared ahead of me and prepared a hammer fist. I curled recovered and caught his fist then followed up with a side kick. Mephiles tumbled end-over-end. I teleported ahead of him, but he used the momentum to his advantage and ax kicked me straight down into the dirt; the weird thing is…I don't remember hitting the ground. My vision tunneled suddenly, the fight was taking a bigger toll on me than I thought. I blacked out for a second and the next thing I remember was being propped up against a storage unit; Amy was at my side and Knuckles was fighting off Mephiles.

"Shadow are you all right?" Amy asked

I shook my head clear of disorientation, "What happened?"

"Mephiles almost killed you, Knuckles said if we hadn't have been here he would have,"

I watched the fight for a second before jumping to my feet and rushing back into it. Amy tried to stop me but it wasn't any good I was already engaged. Mephiles caught Knuckles spiked fist with one hand.

"Impressive!" he commented before hooking Knuckles in the side of the head. The echidna flew straight into the guard tower he would've been in normally. I fired three Chaos Spears and followed with three rounds from my pistol. Mephiles took the three bullets in the chest and by the time he'd recovered from those the spears found their mark. There was a flash and Mephiles was falling out of the air smoking. I formed a Chaos Lance and went in for a kill. I teleported underneath Mephiles and thrust the spear straight up. Blood sprayed my helmet and Mephiles gagged.

"Like I said, you can't beat me," I told him then with a burst of energy I shot a Chaos Spear out of the lance through Mephiles' gut. More blood sprayed the ground as the spear blew a watermelon sized hole in him. I pulled the lance free and let him fall to the ground.

"So much for that," I said then leapt down to find Knuckles

He was okay, aside from a bloody lip and a bruise on his cheek the size of my fist.

"No…impossible," Andy said, "You…there's no way you could've beaten him so easily. I don't believe it,"

"Yeah well believe it pal," Knuckles said.

"I guess this just goes to show…if you want something done right,"

Andy lunged, "DO IT YOURSELF!"

Knuckles and I dove aside, but Andy charged me. I brought my lance up to block, sparks exploded off of Andy's katana, the force was enormous. I never did like fighting with swords and Andy easily disarmed me. I ducked under a swing. There was no way I'd be able to form another lance in time so I made a desperation move. I lunged at him with my left hand curled into a fist at full speed. Andy's nose broke, blood exploded all over my hand and he flew back. He flipped over and slid to a stop then I realized where he was. Andy grabbed Amy.

"Shadow help!" Amy shouted

"No tricks, or she dies!" Andy said

I growled, "She's not part of this fight, leave her out of this!"

In truth I knew Andy knew he couldn't win against me so he was resorting to dirty tricks…like hostages. Knuckles and I just waited there.

"Surrender, or we get to see just how much blood is in the average Mobian girl!" Andy shouted.

We were skunked, there wasn't anything we could do about our hostage situation, if I had a Russian ballistic knife I may have had a desperate long shot but I didn't. I knew I couldn't use Chaos Control or else when time froze he'd already be in the process of killing Amy.

"Amy…it's going to be okay," I said, "We'll get you out of this,"

"C'mon Shadow, fucking do something!" Amy pleaded.

I was stuck there wasn't anything I could do. I heard something in my head.

The Cavalry's coming.

I prayed they were fast enough. Andy suddenly tensed, his black outfit glowed sea foam green.

"NOW!" Silver shouted from the air

Amy elbowed Andy in the gut, which was probably the last thing he expected since he dropped his katana, and broke free thank Chaos. The next thing I knew there was a shift in the wind.

"Readyyy….GO!" Sonic's voice shouted

Andy disappeared from view in a blue tornado that quickly turned into a column of fire. Sonic was flanking me on my left a moment later.

"I guess you found Blaze and Sally?" I said

"Yeah, it wasn't easy either, I guess you've had your hands full here," Sonic replied.

Blaze landed next to Sonic a hand extended. She flicked her wrist and the flames shot thirty feet higher than they already were, "That's for sneaking up on me, pervert!"

That made me wonder exactly how Blaze had been captured. Sally was sitting by, she was angry but since she didn't have abilities like we did, the girl couldn't really do much. Silver landed on my right a minute later, "Death by flaming tornado…"-he shuddered, "a bad memory just appeared in my mind."

I could only guess what he was talking about

Blaze dropped her hand, the fire dyed down a bit but not much.

"That should do it," Blaze stated, "Anybody want a S'more?"

Well…we had a roaring fire but I don't think we should stick around, the fire department would be here soon and they always had police escorting them.

"We need to get out of here, I bet you the cops will be here any second now," I said.

So we bailed out of there, Knuckles however laid down like he was unconscious. I have to admit with a bruise like that he could've easily been mistake for it.

"Can you cover for us Knux?" Sonic asked

"Don't worry, as far as I know, you were never here," he said.

The bunch of us headed back to the vehicles. Blaze Sally and Amy piled into Sonic's Challenger while Silver and I hopped on our bikes and took off back towards Gulf Breeze. I wasn't wearing my helmet, I couldn't see through the cracked visor very well so the helmet was hanging on my handle bar, I'd fix it when I got the chance. We rode until I pulled into a local sports park.

"Well guys…" I said when we'd cut our engines, "we did it,"

"Yeah, we saved the country," Sonic said, "and no one will know about it,"

"That's what I was about to address, we can not mention this to anyone, they wont know what it was like," I sighed, "you…uh…you just be damn sure you don't forget those who paid for Andy's greed and didn't see the results,"

Sonic and Sally knew exactly who I was referring to, I think we all knew.

"You mean Agent Ross?" said another voice

I turned to see General Tange, he was flanked by uniformed police, they had guns drawn.

"General," I spat, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The disappearance of Agent Ross, where is he?"

"In Hell; did you think that pathetic excuse for a soldier could take me on?"

Tange motioned the police to lower their weapons, "Shadow look, we've gathered enough evidence to have Andy court marshaled and tried for treason plotting the take over of the GUNI and authorizing the assassination of the Ghost's commander, you've done us a favor,"

I folded my arms across my chest, turned my back to him, and grunted. I was making it clear that I wasn't having any of it.

"Look, Charlie Company's commander took over the Ghosts and we're short a good company officer, would you accept reinstatement?"

That caught my attention, I'd been fired on the grounds of insubordination and here was the man whom fired me offering me my job back. I turned to him, smirked, and extended a hand, "It would be an honor sir,"

Tange shook my hand, "Welcome back, Captain Shadow,"

"It's good to be back, sir,"

In truth it did feel good to be back. I'd been running from these guys for so long I was sure they'd catch me. Now having them actually thank me for taking out on of their biggest problems really felt good.

"I'll be expecting a full report on this incident on my desk by next Wednesday, we'll also want to debrief the rest of your company on this incident." Tange said, "In the mean time, I'll have First Sergeant Macklin help you sort out your IRS problems."

I was fighting back tears of joy, my life just flipped over on in a matter of minutes.

"And I will see you at Warner Robins on Thursday bright and early," Tange finished

I saluted, "Will that be all sir?"

Tange did me the pleasure of returning of the gesture in spite me being out of uniform. He then got back in his car with the MPs getting in the back and driving off.

"What the heck was that all about?" Sonic asked.

"Let's just say I won't have to run anymore," I wiped my eyes, "C'mon let's find a place to stay, I don't want to ride all night again,"

"Where do you suggest we stay Shadow?" Amy asked

"I know a guy who lives around here…I just hope he's home," I noticed everybody piling back into Sonic's car. My eye ridge arched slightly.

"What? Are you guys really that lazy?" I asked

Sonic poked his head out of his car, "Is he really not that far from here?"

"No, he lives,"-I hooked a thumb over my shoulder towards the neighborhood behind the park, "right back there, about a five minute walk from here,"

"For us it'd be like five seconds," Sonic said hopping out, he set his key in his jean pocket.

"Amy, can you run?" Silver asked

She gave him the strangest look and ran circles around him for a few seconds, there was a neon pink streak around Silver for a few seconds then she stopped, now standing next to me, "Does that answer your question?"

Silver shrugged and jumped up levitating, "Lead the way, Shadow,"

I ran towards the neighborhood with the others on my six, I crossed a bridge and stopped in front of one of the houses.

"So how is this guy exactly Shads?" Sonic asked

"He's one of my friends from the road, I met him in New Orleans…I just hope he's home,"

With that I knocked on the door. We waited there for a few minutes before I knocked again. The knob opened and the guy I'd met at the gas station was there rubbing his left eye.

"Rider?" he said then moaned in annoyance, "What the hell are you doing here at this ungodly hour?"

"My friends and I need a place to crash for the night, c'mon Pluto just for tonight,"

Pluto looked at the rest of those in my company. He studied Silver and Amy from the door, "Alright, but this isn't a hotel, you guys go by my rules comprende'?"

"You have my word," I said back

Pluto frowned, "Alright come in; you guys can take the spare rooms,"-he scoffed, "now I see why I don't convert those rooms into game rooms or something,"

We headed inside. I went into the room next to the stairs and opened the door. I saw the others aside from Amy head upstairs. I removed my Air Shoes and sat on the bed.

"You okay Shadow?" Amy asked me

"I feel better now that my finances are being settled, I've got my job back too, what else could I want?"

Amy scooted closer to me, "Maybe…someone who really cares about you,"

I met her gaze, I wasn't sure what she was talking about until her lips met mine. At that moment I didn't want to be anywhere else but here. She broke the kiss after what I counter was ten or so seconds.

"I thought you didn't trust me, Amy," I said looking into he sage eyes

"I talked to Kelly through someone else's Facebook, she admitted to getting you fired," She told me with a genuine smile on her face.

I went from the bed to the floor and laid back staring up at the ceiling with my hands folded behind my head.

"Are you sure you're comfortable down there?" Amy asked me

I shut my eyes, "Yeah,"

I felt a cloth suddenly hit my face, I moved the pillow off of my face and looked up at Amy; she was looking sheepishly at me for a second before she rolled over.

"Thanks," I said then set that under my head and went to sleep, genuinely happy again not that I'd admit it to anyone but Amy.


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: Yeah it's kinda long but it's been a bit, since I was able to upload anything, so enjoy. Oh the story is only about half over (I think) depending on filler (which is what a few chapters were) and also new ideas (sort of) anyway thanks for reading.

* * *

><p>Shadow Rider Ch 12<p>

I thought it was over. I thought that was my nightmare was over and I'd be back at work tomorrow, but sadly this sleeping dog wouldn't lie. It all started with a dream.

The dream started out like this, I was standing there in total darkness when two red eyes materialized beneath my feet and an evil voice started speaking to me.

"You think it's over don't you?"

I looked around and was blinded sided. I tumbled to the ground with a jarring halt that would've broken a normal person's body in half.

"We cannot be beaten so easily, we will rise and you will DIE!"

That was Mephiles and if he was alive that meant Andy possibly was also. I swore and tried to stand but I felt like I weighed as much as the _Blue Typhoon. _I was pinned down, there was no way I could get up like this. I thought back on my battle with Mephiles and realized something, he didn't use Gate Keepers. The next thing I knew the ground gave way and I tumbled to the floor below. I crashed into the ground and noted it was sandy brown stone like the ruins in Soleanna's western desert. I looked around and still couldn't move, the ground was suddenly bleached in a purple liquid-looking solid. I gritted my teeth and tried to will myself to stand but I still felt like I weighed 200,000 tons, which was about how much that starship weighed. Out of the bubbling shadowy ground eight Gate Keepers exploded up and had me surrounded. The ugly bastards were only half a torso, glowing neon blue and dark purple, they had what looked like a series of Raymore stuck to their heads. Their arms pulsed like veins inside a body, on the ends were fists the size of battle tanks. I'd taken them on before, but then, I didn't weigh 200K tons. Their gigantic maws dropped open, and I sensed eight different Chaos Energy sources each from a different direction. I heard Mephiles laughing, I knew it was over; the Gate Keepers wouldn't even need to aim that high.

"NO!" I shouted.

Eight different beams of neon purple light fired at me.

* * *

><p>I was awake before I realized it. No one had heard me scream by some miracle, so I got up. It was still dark outside, my body's natural sense of time told me it was roughly three in the morning. I was already sitting up right so I stood up and left the room. I first went into Pluto's garage, in there was his black Challenger that same one he was in when he ran into us at the gas station. The garage door was open for whatever reason and right outside in the driveway was a black and red Mustang GT. I got curious and walked over to it, there was an emblem on the driver-side door, MY emblem. That meant one of two things. One: Pluto is actually a fan of mine that I don't know about, or two: this was MY Mustang. I ran my thumb along the door handle and felt it warm close to the back; a moment later, the lock popped open. This really was my Mustang. I sat in the driver seat after opening the door. It felt strangely familiar; I guess it was because I'd been using my bike for the past year so driving a car was a lot different. I mean sure I drove Sonic's Challenger but that was only about a mile drive and then I simply teleported to the hotel, so that wasn't exactly what I would call a real drive. I started the engine, push button start…you've got to love it. The engine roared to life, and sat there purring like she was brand new. I sunk into my seat and sighed happily.<p>

"Amazing," I whispered under my breath.

I looked at the dashboard and pressed the power button on the radio. The volume was low, which I was thankful for, and I slightly turned it up. I frowned slightly after when I head some shitty rap song. My amplifiers were shaking my car to the core, and myself along with it. I flipped the station. Now I've been listening to XM for the past couple of months while on the road so when I flipped to one of my radio stations on standard FM and found it to be some pop station I growled in annoyance. I then flipped through whatever Pluto had set to the hot keys. Key one: shitty rap station. Key two: shitty pop station. Key three: country station (since when the hell did he like that?). Key four: Jack FM (that was alright). Key five: The Rocket (a classic rock station). Last but not least Key six: TK101 (a modern rock station and by far one of my favorite stations)

I left the radio on The Rocket and listened to 'More than a Feeling' by Boston. I remembered one time this guy came into my pawnshop and he had a replica 1975 Epiphone Les Paul. I asked him if he played at all and this was the song he played. I never bought that guitar, he wanted too much for it. I mean, it was nice and all but even for a guitar like that, ten grand is a bit too much. If it was a 69 Gibson Les Paul then ten grand would've been a steal, but it wasn't so I had to decline. I found myself actually air-guitaring the chorus rift to the song anyway. I'd had some practice under my belt but as far as to say I was good, I'd say I was fairly. When the song ended I waited there as commercials played, that was the one thing I hated about the radio and TV, damned commercials. I flipped over to TK and Chaos behold the song I was thinking about was playing, it had just started to, 'Man in the Box' by Alice in Chains. I started nodded to the beat; the song was great. So that was how I spent the next few minutes, listening to music in my Mustang. At around four, I shut the car off and headed back into the house. I went to the fridge and frowned, inside was a half-gallon of milk a six-pick of Amber bock and a carton of OJ. I poured myself a glass of OJ seeing as I wasn't in the mood for milk or a beer (especially the beer at four in the morning), and went into the backyard for a moment. I felt the morning breeze blowing slightly across the yard. I sipped my drink, the whole time I still couldn't get my mind off of my dream. Was Andy still alive? Was Mephiles also? I growled in annoyance, if there was one thing I couldn't stand it was uncertainty. After simply sitting there for a moment, I decided to head back inside. I'd finished my OJ by now so I set my cup in the sink and sat on the couch seemingly lost in my racing mind's thoughts. There was only one way Andy could've survived Blaze's attack and I wished I hadn't even thought of it. My concentration broke with a question.

"What are you doing up this early?"

I looked up, it was Pluto who'd asked me this. I sighed, "Bad dream; I couldn't sleep, what about you?"

"School," he replied plainly

I sighed that's when I noticed the Marine style haircut and his Air Force ABU, my brow arched, "What's with the…"

"ROTC, PSC just got a program and they asked those of us who have uniforms to where them,"

I nodded.

"So what's with this dream?" he asked

I reluctantly explained to him the dream. Pluto didn't flinch when I told him about fighting Andy and Mephiles at the warehouses.

"Odd, since last night I dreamt of someone wanting to take over GUN from the inside-out," he said in response.

"Well that was what Andy wanted to do, until Sonic Blaze and Silver came along and helped me out," I commented.

"If I've learned anything in my time served it's this: the most dangerous part of a mission is the last few minutes. That's when you let your guard down, but you have to remember that it's not over until you're sitting back in your home or office,"

That much was true, and I'd learned that the hard way during a classified op in the Middle East. I subliminally put a hand to my right bicep, where I'd been shot during a that last few minutes of a ground op. If it hadn't been for that PAVLOW my entire squad probably would've been killed. I then shook that thought out of my head; that op never happened.

"Well I'm out of here; just out of curiosity, where will you go?" Pluto asked

"Probably Warner Robins," I told him, "Orders from the top to return to active duty,"

Pluto notably smirked, "Well good luck Rider,"

Pluto then took his ABU hat and headed out of the door. I heard an engine rev up about five minutes later. It wasn't my Mustang's engine, it was too deep; that was a Challenger's engine. I walked back out to the driveway and found my Mustang still there, but there was a note under one of the windshield wipers. I picked it up and read it:

Rider.

I found this at an auction in New Orleans and got it for a steal. It's insured and the tags last until March of 2172. Since I knew whose it was when I bought it and you decided to show up at my place I figured you'd want it back. Not to say your car sucks, it doesn't, but Mustangs just aren't my style, so I've transferred the car back under yours and your girlfriend's names. You're welcome.

Pluto

PS: Your AI hates fucking me for whatever reason

I smirked, at least my AI still had access to my Mustang. That reminded me of something and I skated off towards the park. When I got to Sonic's Challenger, I opened the back and grabbed my data pad. I went back into Pluto's house. By now it was around five in the morning, I wanted to get moving so I went upstairs and took a shower. As the water ran down my back I sighed in comfort, this was the first time I'd been actually happy to wake up in the morning, minus the dream I had, which was lingering in the back of my mind. A moment after, though, someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Be out in a minute," I said shutting off the water and grabbing a towel. After that was wrapped around my waist I opened the door and noticed it was Blaze of all people waiting there. I scooted passed her.

"Shower's all yours," I said awkwardly.

What made that situation awkward was the fact that all I had on was a towel, but Blaze seemed to do what I was doing; putting it aside and moving on with her business. I went downstairs and got dress in my borrowed room. Amy was still asleep and as I pulled on my black under shirt I flopped onto the bed. Amy bounced slightly, looked up at me, half-shut her eyes and rolled over.

"C'mon, Ames, if we don't get going we won't make it back to Lionsville," I said.

"In all honesty Shadow…I don't want to go back to Lionsville," she replied still facing away from me.

"Then where will you go?" I asked

She looked up at me again sat up and stretched, "I was thinking I could go with you?"

My eye ridge arced; the way she said it was like she was asking a question, in truth I didn't know how to respond to that.

"Amy," I finally said, "You know what being with me costs right?"

She nodded, "But I want to be there for you Shadow,"

I was frozen for a moment, "Could you live on if something were to happen to me?"

"I went this long without you Shadow, it's been rough but I think I could,"

"That's all I need to know; as long as you could go on without me I'll be happy,"

"So what's your answer?"

I smiled, "Yes,"

She jumped out of bed and headed out of the room to the downstairs bathroom. I smirked and headed out to the Mustang and connected my data pad to the dashboard after getting into the driver seat.

"Hello Max," I said, "On the holo-port, please,"

Maxwell, my data pad's AI, materialized in front of the cup-holders in his chosen form of an Assassin of Masyf.

"Good morning Captain, it is currently March 13, 2143, at 0542 hours GUN standard; weather is predicted to be fair with mild showers later this afternoon and today's high at 77 degrees with humidity at 60 percent." Max replied

"Dually noted, thank you Max," I replied.

"Will we be having any extra company in the vehicle today, sir?"

"A reminder Max, don't call me 'sir' unless I'm in uniform; as per your question yes, we will, you remember Amy right?"

"Amanda Rose, father Patrick Rose late mother Alice Rose, current age is 24 height four feet weight…"

"That's quiet enough Max, please stop doing that,"

I cut off Max for two reasons, one: if Amy found out that I knew that bit of classified tier-one info; let's just say there wouldn't be much left of me. And two: she was coming out of Pluto's house and heading towards the Mustang!

"I see Max is as in depth as ever," Amy said, she sounded agitated.

"I told him not to," I said clearly conspiring against my own AI

"If I may point out, my master is lying," Max said

"Oh he was, was he?" Amy said giving me a look

"No," I retorted

"Yes; you didn't tell me to stop until Ms. Rose came out of Mr. Mason's house,"

I looked at Amy, "AI's, what are you going to do?"

She slammed a fist into an open hand, "Is it possible to kick the shit out of an AI?"

"I assure you, ma'am, no such thing resides within my programming,"

"I don't think that's what she meant, Max,"

Amy rolled her eyes dismissively and hopped into the passenger seat. I started the engine and smirked, "It's been too long since I drove this car,"

"Shall I put on some…more appealing music, sir?" Max asked

I turned up the volume and found that shitty pop station on again, I rolled my eyes and groaned in annoyance. Amy looked at me then stuck out her tongue at my radio, "It's Ke$ha what do you expect?"

"Access my data pad's hard drive, Max, play 'Blow Me Away' by Breaking Benjamin; the Halo two mix please,"

"A fine choice, sir," Max said

I gave Max a look but he must've ignored me. The song started.

"Didn't I show you this song?" Amy asked

I nodded, "I was with Sonic playing Halo at the time when you came in with this blasting from your iPod,"

"Yeah it started at the same time on your game as it did for me,"

I nodded remember that it started during on of my favorite parts of the game too.

"So how exactly do we get your bike?" She asked

I smirked, "Max is going to pilot it,"

"What?" Max said

"You can pilot my bike can't you?"

"Yes I can but that method is so unconventional,"

"I don't care Max, do you think I use conventional tactics when I'm in combat?"

"I could pull up your CSV and show where you did and didn't if you wish,"

"Damn it, Max, can you or not?"

"Yes but…"

"That's all I need to know,"

I pulled into Tiger Point Park and got out, disconnecting my data pad and ejecting Max. I set him in a data port on my bike's dashboard. I also grabbed my helmet and tossed it in the back of the car.

"Max I want you to follow us to Warner Robins," I said

"Going back to work finally sir?"

"Max…"

"Right then, coordinates plotted, our ETA if we leave now accounting for all possible traffic delays is in five hours,"

I hopped back into the car and off we went.

* * *

><p>I think it was around two hours after we'd been on the interstate that trouble showed up. Amy was asleep, no surprise, long drives always seemed to do that to her. I was listening to more music from my data pad, not blasting it but not exactly keeping it down either. 'Low life' by Theory of a Deadman was playing. Though I wouldn't describe anyone I knew as such it was still a good song. Trouble showed up when out of nowhere something came flying towards us. I swerved to avoid it. The asphalt behind us exploded into a plume of smoke. Amy jumped, now fully awake; I looked ahead and saw on a bridge was Andy. He flicked his wrist and another blast flew at my Mustang. I jerked the wheel left and avoided it as more of I-10 exploded into dust. I then undid my seatbelt and motioned Amy to do the same.<p>

"Take the wheel!" I said rolling down the window, "Keep going to Warner Robins and tell the boarder guards I sent you, I'm sure Tange will have told them everything,"

She didn't hesitate, but rather she quickly kissed me, "Kick his ass for me too,"

"Will do,"

With that I jumped out of the window and rolled to a stop. Andy fired again, this time it was directed at me. I flung a series of Chaos Spears at whatever it was he'd been shooting at me. One connected, and the other two flew off towards Andy. He waved his hand and they vanished. After a few seconds of standing there he leapt down and landed atop my Mustang. I cursed; he was after Amy. I double-timed it along the interstate. I eventually caught up to them and there he was surfing on my car with his arms crossed.

"Well, I guess putting your girlfriend in jeopardy really gets to you Rider," he said

I was still running alongside the car while he was speaking.

"You thought that pathetic attempt at the Supernova would be enough to kill me?"

I kept going when he leapt off of the car and kicked me into the median barrier. Needless to say I broke through it and got clipped by an oncoming semi-truck. As I flew through the air for a few feet I could only curse as my Mustang vanished from the road. I picked myself up off of the road; blood was running down my head over right eye giving me a bloody haze. The next thing I knew I was turning around sensing a Chaos energy signature, when my Mustang materialized not 100 feet from me. I braced.

The next few seconds were blurry. I remember stopping the car with whatever strength I had, and also hearing one of my bones breaking. The car pushed me a full mile before stopping on the shoulder. I had my hands on the hood bracing me upright.

"SHADOW!" Amy shouted getting out of the car.

I barely registered her screaming at the time. I lifted my hands; all I remembered seeing next were two dents that outlined my hands perfectly. I collapsed breathing was hard, and I was vaguely aware that my shin had fractured. I blinked and the next thing I saw was Silver, the boy was running his hand over me. Now if Silver heals you…lets just say it isn't exactly the greatest feeling in the world. If you've ever felt wounds healing themselves then you know what I mean. I felt my knees snap backwards and jam itself back into place. My ACL pinpricked inside my leg as it stitched itself back together. Silver stopped healing me and I stood up, I could see a puddle of blood where I was previously lying down. I hadn't noticed Sonic and Blaze were right there until Sonic started talking.

"Holy shit Shadow, what the hell were you thinking?" Sonic said

"I…what happened?" I wound up stuttering

"You got hit by a clipped by a semi, then hit head-on by your own car. Are you trying to kill yourself!"

"No…it was Andy, he's alive!" I told them.

"I told you it wasn't over," Silver said

"I don't think this a time to be proud to be right," Blaze said seemingly shooting the boy out of the sky.

"Did you see where Andy went?" I asked

"He took Amy and the car and disappeared in a flash of light,"

I noticed my bike also sitting there; I went to it and loaded Max up on the holo-port attached to my dashboard, "Max, can you track where my car went?"

"Already on it. The Mustang is approximately five minutes outside of Metropolis, they appear to be heading towards the GUN HQ,"

I looked at the others, "Then that's where we go,"

"I'd estimate they will reach GUN HQ within the hour," Max said

"Then we're going to cut them off at Westopolis; that's where this Interstate enters Metro at,"

"Even at maximum speed on all of our vehicles, I'm sorry to say but we would never make it,"

"Who said anything about driving?"

I looked at Blaze Sonic and Silver, Sally must've been still driving or something, she wasn't with us. The four of us joined hand.

"Chaos…CONTROL!"


	14. Chapter 13

Shadow Rider Ch 13

We ended up in a busy section of Westopolis. I sent Sonic up to one of the highest points and told him to report Andy's location. He wasn't even halfway there when the media showed up. I hated the media; they blew everything out of proportion making a single ground engagement look like the whole war. Silver Blaze and I were assaulted with camera flashes and questions.

"Mr. Shadow, what is your opinion on our city's Mayor?" one reporter asked.

I ignored her question and instead made a call out to all of the GUN forces in the area.

"Mayday, mayday; we have a situation down here. A traitor to the country is on his way here to take GUN HQ by force, any forces in the vicinity move to assist my company," I said then bolted away from them consulting with Silver about this.

The boy and Blaze were up to their ears in harassing media.

"Guys!" I shouted.

Sliver and Blaze turned to me and subsequently so did the cameras

"We don't have time for this, Andy will be here any second now, we have to be ready,"

They nodded dismissing the media. That would've worked too but the blue headache had to come down from his look out. The media crowded around us and put me on my ass. I rose to my feet.

"Yo Hedgehog!" I shouted, "We kind of have a problem here!"

I vaguely picked up his polite excuses as he pushed through the crowd. Eventually he did get through and got us surrounded by media.

"I could see the car Shads, he'll probably be here in a few minutes," he told me

"Mr. Shadow what's coming?" some reporter asked

"Should we be worried?" said another

"I would advise that all civilians leave the area…NOW!" I barked back.

That caused the biggest panic I think I've seen since the stock crash of 2099. Civilians ran for their lives heading deeper into the city. I wondered why for a moment until a dark purple bolt washed over one of the skyscrapers nearby and blasted it apart.

"No way…" I whispered.

My Mustang came around the corner with an army following it. The troops were hedgehogs except they were easily as tall as Metal Neo and their canines were long enough that they extended like vampire teeth from their top jaws. Almost all of them were white furred with red eyes; they almost looked like a negative version of me. They marched behind my Mustang in numbers that would've made the Ghosts seem like a single squad in a platoon, extremely small in other words.

"That Mustang is our objective," I said, "Amy's still inside it,"

"Shadow…are you really going to take on that army?" Sonic asked

"For her…I'd gladly die fighting,"

"Just one last thing; what the hell are those things?"

I didn't honestly believe in any of the old legends, especially the one about the Mobians and the Darkspine. But it was just that. Those hedgehogs matched the exact description of your basic Darkspine.

"Did you ever here about the Darkspine?" I asked

"Dark-what?"

"In the beginning before the Chaos Emeralds existed there were two races on Mobius that warred with each other; us and the Darkspine, whom were basically our jerk cousins. The Echidnas came up with an idea and using their very life force created eight gems of power."

"The Chaos Emeralds," he said

"Bingo, and the Master Emerald. Alone the Emeralds were a waste of effort, their power claimed more Darkspine, but they still won more battles than lost. So one brave soul called for all of the Emeralds to be brought together, he was the first Super being. Using Chaos Control he imprisoned the Darkspine within himself and then abruptly sealed himself away inside the Master Emerald. His life force partly resides in all Chaos Mobians, it gives us our power and in a couple of cases our darkest forms."

I pointed a finger at him, "One of those cases is you. When you get angry enough you unleash what we've dubbed Dark Sonic,"

Sonic looked down.

"This can only mean one thing, if the Darkspine have returned then that means the Master Emerald has shattered, and now we must stop them from destroying the rest of Mobius like they intended to in the beginning,"

"How in Chaos name are we supposed to do that? They have a fucking army, we're just four guys."

"Easy, we're going to kill every last one of them,"

Sonic looked back towards the invading army and sighed, "Easier said than done,"

He was right, it was easy to say you were going to kill someone or something, but actually doing it was a completely different concept. I heard something among all of this though, the whipping of chopper blades. I looked up, there was a flight of Blackhawk Helicopters directly over head dropping off Army Rangers on the roofs. I'm guessing the ones that remained up there were snipers. My message had been heard, and now we had support, I was thinking against all odds we were going to actually be able to hold our ground. I was worried about Silver however, the boy's fur made him look like a target.

"Guys on me," I said

The three of them moved.

"Silver, I want you to hang back, give those snipers on the roofs support in any way you can." I said

"This is because I look like them isn't it?" Silver complained

"Yes now go!"

He fell back waving his arm in a kind of don't-shoot-me motion.

"Blaze; I want you with the Rangers that are coming groundside, if they have to fall back give them something to fall back to and a better chance to fall back to it,"

"Got it,"

She moved.

"Sonic you're with me, we're going after the car,"

"And if they try to stop us?"

"We do what we do best…kick some ass and make some messes!" I thrust a fist into my open palm when I said that.

"Right…"

"I think you might want this then Shadow,"

The two of us whirled around and caught sight of someone we thought died years ago. It was Tails, the boy had an M16 with tiger stripes on it and an M203 under the barrel.

"Tails," Sonic sounded shocked, I myself was surprised when he suddenly showed up.

"Bro…where have you been?" Sonic asked

"I've been gone but I'm back now, and that's all that should matter, but then again so are the Darkspine, we should focus on them not me,"

He tossed the rifle to me, I plucked it out of the air the whole time thinking that the boy sounded more mature than he did when I first met him. He looked it too, he'd grown taller and that childish innocence had vanished from his eyes, his stare was almost intimidating to a point.

"I suppose that will have to wait," I said, "Tails is right, we should focus on taking down the Darkspine and killing Andy,"

Sonic seemed to hold his concern and put the mission ahead of his own curiosity. I saw the army stop. Tails handed me a scouter, which I put on, and opened the comns.

"All squads report," I ordered. I'd bet the Rangers thought it was weird taking orders from supposedly a civilian. Two lights flashed green on my display, causing me to drop that thought off a cliff. Light one was designated Hunter-one, I guessed they were our snipers, the other was designated Ranger-one.

"Tails; Sonic and I are going to attempt to rescue Amy,"-I pointed at my Mustang, "from that car, once she's back here I want you to get her out of here,"

Tails nodded.

I had no clue what I was getting into, but there were two regiments of soldiers out here that were willing to die in the name of liberty. I was one of them. This I did know, I was ready for war.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Well guys the Shadow Rider is drawing to a close. With nothing more than a total war to survive, I'm officially out of ideas for the series. I'll be working on other things after this is over so don't be discouraged about not seeing anything new from me.**

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><p><strong>Shadow Rider Ch 14<strong>

I could see their line halt. It was eerily quiet, and that didn't ease my bad feeling. I'd had it since the Darkspine had made themselves known and vaporized any civilians who made the mistake of crossing their paths. It was around midday and the sun was at the peak of its orbit; there wasn't a cloud in the sky that day either now that I recall. Silver was with the snipers, Blaze the Rangers and Sonic was with me. I could see Andy standing on the roof of my car, next to him was Amy, she looked like she was trying to get away from him but that was struck down when Andy back-handed her across the face. That pissed me off, but I controlled myself; blindly rushing a pack of Darkspine would get us all killed. Sonic looked at me, almost like he was waiting for me to do something.

"Patience, Sonic, let's see what they do first," I said.

Sonic got into a ready stance, I could tell he was waiting to get the gun. I hoped he still was carrying my pistol. My ear twitched, I could hear Andy barking orders…actually it was one order.

"To GUN HQ, and with every man we have, slay them all!" Andy barked.

Hell had officially broken loose at that point. I ordered the snipers to open fire and ordered the Rangers to advance, take up positions in the buildings nearby and defend the road. The Rangers moved in passing Sonic and I without a second thought. I waited for the first volley of sniper fire to pierce the crystal clear day and turn it into a furious battle. The rhythm of sniper fire I can still hear even today. _Crack, crack, crack, crack. _It reminded me of a metronome. I watched as the humans and the Darkspine exchanged plasma fire and bullets.

"You ready Sonic?" I asked

He nodded

With my best foot forward we triple-timed it towards the car. The next few seconds involved dodging Darkspine and weaving in and out of lines of fire. While I would occasionally relieve Darkspine that we passed of their legs, Sonic ran straight and true, like an annoying blue bullet. I swept out another Darkspine's legs out from under it as we passed with a Chaos Lance and with him out of the way there were only five between us and Andy. We couldn't get around these guys so…

"Alright Sonic, let's show them what we can do!" I commented

Sonic smirked and curled into his classic spin dash while I jumped and charged three Chaos spears. When he shot forward at their line effectively killing two and scattering the rest, I unleashed my spears. They found their targets and exploded like hand grenades. Sonic and I emerged through the smoke now standing about ten meters from my Mustang.

"So you think you can actually win?" Andy taunted, "I thought I told you to turn yourself over and be done with it?"

"What you told me was absolute bullshit, and you know it, now release Amy or I swear with Chaos and Tikal as my witnesses I will rip your head from your shoulders and mount it over my fireplace!" I warned him.

Andy vanished and I suddenly flew forward at my car, crashing into the already dented hood. My head busted through the windshield. Glass shattered cutting my face up nicely. I turned to see Sonic already running circles around him. I wasn't sure why until I heard gunfire…not sniper rifles or assault weapons…a pistol. Sonic stopped and was holding my pistol just like I'd shown him. Andy, even though he'd been shot probably ten times, still stood there, his hands jammed in his pockets like he didn't even notice. With a flick of the wrist the ground in front of Sonic exploded tossing him backwards and throwing him into a building's wall. The simple brick cratered and he fell forward. I jumped to my feet and engaged him. The next few seconds involved nothing but punches, kicks, blocks, counters, and a few Chaos spears. Andy threw a punch at me, which I countered with a deflecting block followed by a series of quick jabs. Andy took most of them like they were nothing but instead of taking my final punch, which was uppercut that would've torn off the head of a Black Arms, he dodged it and spin-kicked me across the chest. I felt my ribs crack and I explosively exhaled as I hit the ground. I swore as I rose to my feet only to have Andy put a pistol to my head.

"The Ultimate Life form, ageless and immortal,"-he scoffed, "let's see how immortal you are with a bullet in your brain!"

I made a quick move and slowed time down right as the bullet exited the barrel. I avoided it by ducking and hammering Andy with the strongest kick I could muster, it connected with his gut. Andy was shot backwards and through a window. I heard the glass shatter. Sonic waited next to me, blood dripped down my head splashing to the ground, I knew I'd be fine as long as I didn't get hit any harder than that. Knowing my luck, there was little chance of that happening. Andy rose to his feet and glared at me, he leveled the gun and fired now. The bullet threw me to the ground, blood splattered the pavement and my chest exploded into pain. It felt like my chest was on fire. I yelled out. Andy moved out of the house and strolled over very casually, I don't exactly remember what he said to me after he swiftly knocked Sonic aside like he was nothing, but I do remember him once again setting the pistol to my head. I heard the thunderous roar of a gunshot.


	16. Chapter 15

**Shadow Rider Ch 15**

I had my eyes shut at that point; I was waiting to face Chaos and Tikal, maybe they would allow me a shot at the Isle of Heroes, or failing that I'd probably be sent to the depths of the Master Emerald and imprisoned for eternity. Eternity in the Master Emerald didn't sound as bad as it seemed, Chaos lives there for crying out loud; I mean, you are pretty much with God for eternity and periodically he'll send you back to the realm of the living to assist in the eternal battle against his enemies. As I thought of this I figured that was why Tails was here, he ended up dying of cancer when I was deployed, I didn't know until I got back and to show what respect I had for the boy, I attended his funeral. That was a very sad day for all of us, Sonic looked like me for a moment, as in wanted to make the disease pay for killing his surrogate brother. I didn't blame him, he was a good kid; I now at least knew he had achieved the ME sanctuary. After a few moments I realized something, I was alive, I could still feel my heart beating, I could still breathe which was a good sign. Do I dare open my eyes? I risked it; there was the scene of the battle that had been taking place for the better part of the hour. It was eerily quiet. I glanced towards the line where the Rangers were. The Darkspine had stopped their advance and turned to face Sonic and I. I looked at him first. His arm was trembling slightly as he struggled to hold my pistol right. It was then I noted Andy's expression; his eyes had glassed over, then his knees gave out bringing me to realize that there was a hole in the side of his head. Andy crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood. I looked towards the Mustang. Amy was next to it, holding her bruised cheek but otherwise she was okay. I noted the bullet mark on my windshield and I traced my gaze back to Sonic, my pistol's barrel was smoking. I got to my feet and smirked.

"I did say the next time you use it I want it to save my ass," I commented, but my first priority was Amy. I ran to her and hugged her tight, "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay…you…you almost died, Shadow," she said and pressed her head into my chest. I stroked her head, making it apparent that I wasn't going to leave her there. I suddenly felt a flash of pain over my back. It burned like a raging inferno across my back, setting my quills temporarily ablaze with red and orange flame. I shouted out a yell that was probably loud enough that the whole city could hear me. I held Amy, keeping my back turned, I whispered for her to run, to get as far away from here as…my back burst into fiery pain again, I felt it _inside_ my back, torching my bones and crawling along every fiber in my back. Amy let go and blotted for cover as a third then a forth bolt washed over me. I dropped to my knees and a beam pierced my right bicep and splattered blood to the pavement. I gripped the limb and screamed, a fifth lance of plasma caught me in the side and rolled me over onto my back. I could hardly breathe now, and every time I took a breath it felt like my lungs were made of lava that would never cool. As I stared into the sky I caught a glimpse of someone, at first I thought it was Chaos or Tikal that instead of being delivered a swift painless death I'd be given the slow painful one. I coughed out blood, the taste made me gag as the stuff splattered onto my face and my chest. I felt light-headed and blinked twice before I registered that it was now almost night. I must've lost consciousness at some point because I was still lying there. I looked up, everything was still as it was when I passed out, I could hear the popping and cracking of sniper rifles and assault weapons along side the whine of plasma fire. I crawled towards the back of the car, there was something…no someone back there that I wanted to see before I died. I had to or I would never rest in peace; I'd be a ghost stuck here in a burning hell and never allowed to pass on if I didn't get to see her. I had to see Amy before I passed. When I got around to the trunk still crawling on my chest there was nothing back there. She was gone. I then recalled what I told her when the first of five plasma lances hit me. I told her to run. She must've heeded that warning. I looked at my side; blood had smeared along the pavement drawing a bloody streak to where I was now. I saw that my bottom three ribs were carbonized black and my left lung was blue, I'd probably lose that organ, or half of it at any rate. My right hand was involuntarily clutched across the wound. I moved it aside and stared at the shear amount of blood along my fingers and pooling in my palm. The red liquid dripped to the pavement among the rest of its kin that strewn the ground red. I looked up and saw my worst fear since dying was realized. There was a Darkspine standing full height; it hadn't noticed me yet. I bit my tongue so as to not attract attention, and then with aggravating slowness I started to crawl away. My left shoe clipped my Mustang's rim, which reverberated with a loud ringing. I cursed.

The Darkspine turned and spotted me. I howled a victory cry of some kind almost as if I was its next meal. It lifted a giant armored boot and was about to crush me underneath it when something caught both our attentions.

"Piss off you nasty son of a bitch!" barked a female voice.

The Darkspine roared in defiance then its head suddenly snapped down, I heard its neck break as it fell over almost on top of me. I managed to slid out of the way just enough for it to land on my up turned hand. I wiggled my arm free and suddenly was being hoisted to my feet.

"You okay, Grumpy?" asked the voice.

I blinked passed my own blood haze and saw Rouge was carrying me back towards the Ranger's safe haven. The remaining Darkspine brought weapons to bear and fired. Rouge skillfully dodged volley after volley of plasma fire. The Rangers must've seen this and opened fire. Three Darkspine screamed and fell dead in pools of their own gore before they turned back to face the Rangers, by then it was too late. The last Darkspine died by the flash of a gun muzzle, splattering its brains all over the pavement. The battle was over, we'd done it, against all odds; we'd won. Rouge set me down on one of the many stretchers that carried me, as well as the few hundred Rangers that were also wounded, to a field hospital.

"You know it's rude to keep a girl waiting?" Rouge said

"And what are you waiting on?" I asked with a slight chuckle, I winced as pain crawled along my semi-carbonized spine.

"Weren't you listening, Grumps, I asked if you're all right?"

"I could be better," I said weakly, "Thanks for pulling me out of there, Rouge, I appreciate it,"

"No big deal…"

She was hiding it, she always did, like it or not, she knew she considered me a close friend but not close like Amy and I were.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, I practically just showed up to find you half dead swimming in your own blood for Chaos sake; what the hell did you do to yourself?"

"Darkspine with plasma weapons…I let my guard down,"

I mentally cursed myself for something so rookie. You don't let your guard down: ever. I'd been made to pay for it once again.

"Could you do me a favor?" I asked Rouge

"Sure,"

"Go get Sonic and the others please…I'm not sure how much longer I'll be conscious,"

She nodded and did so, leaving me to be attended by field medics. They sprayed me with bio-foam which flooded my wounds. I tasted copper as it adhered to them and sealed them from the environment. Sonic Amy Silver and Blaze came back with Rouge not too much later.

"Shadow…" Amy sighed lying her head in my chest again. I smiled and bit back pain.

"Amy this hurts a lot," I whispered

She got the hint and lifted her head looking me in the eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"At the hospital, yes," I said, my mouth was probably a different tint of red as more blood crawled up my throat.

"We'll come too," Silver said

Sonic just nodded at me and looked at Tails, whom was next to him.

"Hey bro you sticking around?" Sonic asked him

"I wish I could, Sonic, but I can't. Chaos sent me to aid you and since that duty is done…I have to go," he said

"Go?" Sonic said, "go where?"

Tails took a step back from us, I saw a light behind him and the ghostly figures of Chaos and Tikal Echidna.

"No…Tails…please don't go," Sonic pleaded

"I wish it wasn't like this, Sonic, but it is. It was my time,"

"NO! It's not fair!"

"Sonic…don't make this harder than it already is…please,"

I don't know if Sonic saw it but I sure as hell saw it in spite being only half conscious, but it was that child-like innocence in Tails eyes. Sonic hugged his brother tears welling up in his eyes, "Then promise me you'll take care of yourself…"

"I'll have Cosmo to help with that, she'll take care of me,"

Sonic let him go and they ascended in a column of light.

"You better not forget your big bro!" Sonic shouted as a last request.

I smelt the sent of lilac, the same sent left behind when Sonic and I stopped Dark Oak but at the cost of Cosmo. It was Tails wish that the seed Cosmo gave him be planted behind his grave. Well over the years that tree grew and became beautiful, I'd bet Cosmo like that and seeing Tails in Sanctuary. I felt light headed and slipped into unconsciousness for what couldn't have been half a second, and the next thing I knew I was at the hospital, my back was numb and Amy was on the hospital bed curled up next to me. I set an arm around her and finally shut my eyes wiling myself to sleep. I was ready to face the Army when I got out and reinstated. I was genuinely happy again.

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><p>AN: And…done! Finally, it took me freaking long enough to get this done.

Shadow: You put me through THAT!

Yeah…what of it?

Shadow: I don't think I've seen anyone hurt that badly and live

Three things. One; author powers. Two; First Person POV and three; you're the Ultimate Life form.

Shadow: True…

Well guys, it's over, the Shadow Rider saga, an idea that has been deep in my subconscious since I started the project originally for Creative Writing as a Sophomore, is finally over. Thanks for reading guys


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